You've just got to love the Red states. Or, perhaps more reasonably, fear them.
It seems that Atlanta, Georgia is still not sold on this whole "evolution" thing; after all, what's 150 years and the support of the entire scientific world really prove, anyway? Forced by a cruel government into including evolution in its science textbooks, a school district in Atlanta has found a way to make sure its students don't fall for that rigamarole - here's the warning label that has adorned said textbooks for two years now:
"This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
It's just now come to court, because some parents are concerned that the sticker invalidates all of the lessons on evolution which follow it. Supporters of the sticker argue that it doesn't say evolution definitely is false, but rather encourages students to think critically about it. Just like they should about whether two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom really make a molecule of water, or if that's just a theory. Or like students should not put too much faith in the theory that the earth revolves around the sun; that's just a theory, too.
I won't defend evolution - that's just ridiculous, as it has been proven over and over again to be fact. But what does it say about the South that they can't let science tell us how things are, and leave religion to tend properly to matters of faith. It's the job of science to explain the world in terms of facts and things that can be proven (like evolution); it's religion's job to deal with unprovable matters, such as God and morals and the like. There really is no conflict here between them; science and religion each have separate, important jobs - and science's job is to show how the world works. Evolution is in science's court, and science has proven it to be true.
On a side note, I just can't help but think about the fact that the only way to get a Democrat into the White House is to nominate someone from the South, because that's apparently the only way many Southerners can imagine that he (or she) would represent the whole country, and not just those left-wing liberal Yankees. At least, that's my theory.
Monday, November 08, 2004
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Rich Man, Poor Woman
“Moral principles have lost their distinctiveness. For modern man, absolute right and absolute wrong are a matter of what the majority is doing.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968), U.S. civil rights leader.
Here is the saga of two people, one with ethics, and one without. Which one is better off? Even if one voted for Bush, or maybe especially if one voted for Bush, they could easily pick the one better off, without knowing their names.
Bunnatine (Bunny) Greenhouse blew the whistle on Haliburton and its cozy relationship with the government, thanks to Vice President Dick Cheney’s influence whether real or perceived. It took guts for an African-American woman to stand up and point out that the government was illegally approving lengthy no-bid contracts for Cheney’s old company that was going to profit from the Iraq war.
Instead of praise and promotion, according to Time magazine, Greenhouse was warned to stop interfering and threatened with a demotion. She has requested protection from retaliation. The Misanthrope believes she should have secret service protection from the most vengeful administration in U.S. history.
And the one seemingly without ethics, Michael Ovitz., was awarded $140 million for just showing up for 14 months. Disney shareholders are suing Ovitz claiming he was not entitled to the severance because he should have been fired over this poor performance and ethical lapses. The Misanthrope wonders how many animators would still be employed with a $140 million budget? Or possibly, Disney could have created their own Pixar studios. There is something wrong with a society that can allow either of these scenarios to exist.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968), U.S. civil rights leader.
Here is the saga of two people, one with ethics, and one without. Which one is better off? Even if one voted for Bush, or maybe especially if one voted for Bush, they could easily pick the one better off, without knowing their names.
Bunnatine (Bunny) Greenhouse blew the whistle on Haliburton and its cozy relationship with the government, thanks to Vice President Dick Cheney’s influence whether real or perceived. It took guts for an African-American woman to stand up and point out that the government was illegally approving lengthy no-bid contracts for Cheney’s old company that was going to profit from the Iraq war.
Instead of praise and promotion, according to Time magazine, Greenhouse was warned to stop interfering and threatened with a demotion. She has requested protection from retaliation. The Misanthrope believes she should have secret service protection from the most vengeful administration in U.S. history.
And the one seemingly without ethics, Michael Ovitz., was awarded $140 million for just showing up for 14 months. Disney shareholders are suing Ovitz claiming he was not entitled to the severance because he should have been fired over this poor performance and ethical lapses. The Misanthrope wonders how many animators would still be employed with a $140 million budget? Or possibly, Disney could have created their own Pixar studios. There is something wrong with a society that can allow either of these scenarios to exist.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Civic Responsibility
Voting is, perhaps, the most obvious of our civic duties - certainly in recent weeks it has dominated our hearts and minds. But this week I had the pleasure of participating in another public institution upon which our democracy is based - the judicial system.
Called to the local courthouse to dispense justice, I was seated in the gallery and went through the voir dire process, in which the lawyers and judge determine the fitness of jurors to preside over a case. Multiple choice quiz: which of the following three jurors was kicked out of the jury as impartial or unfit to serve?
Correct answer: none of the above. But they did kick out a little old woman who wouldn't say whether she could deliver a guilty or a not-guilty verdict - she wanted to wait for the evidence to be presented. A little confused, perhaps, but certainly not incompetent.
As for me? I, too, was deemed unacceptable. My prodigious reading has apparently one unexpected side effect, which is that there will perhaps never be a criminal case about which I have not read something; in this case, I had read a book about the defendant, and was already pretty sure he was guilty. I mentioned this, and was excused.
A last note - jury duty is easy, necessary, and interesting. Do not shirk your responsibility to the state; the law you uphold may be your own.
Called to the local courthouse to dispense justice, I was seated in the gallery and went through the voir dire process, in which the lawyers and judge determine the fitness of jurors to preside over a case. Multiple choice quiz: which of the following three jurors was kicked out of the jury as impartial or unfit to serve?
Juror #4 was not only unfit to serve, but I would have convicted him in place of the defendant. Asked if he or his family had ever been involved in a crime, as witness or victim or perp, he remarked that 30 years prior his co-worker had been murdered, and he had been brought in for questioning. No one was ever arrested for that crime...
Juror #7 was a former CIA agent with a fondness for the institution that was allegedly harmed by the defendant.
Juror #12 insisted the if someone ever came into his business and did what the defendant did (no "allegedly" in his reponse), he would make sure he got what was coming to him.
Correct answer: none of the above. But they did kick out a little old woman who wouldn't say whether she could deliver a guilty or a not-guilty verdict - she wanted to wait for the evidence to be presented. A little confused, perhaps, but certainly not incompetent.
As for me? I, too, was deemed unacceptable. My prodigious reading has apparently one unexpected side effect, which is that there will perhaps never be a criminal case about which I have not read something; in this case, I had read a book about the defendant, and was already pretty sure he was guilty. I mentioned this, and was excused.
A last note - jury duty is easy, necessary, and interesting. Do not shirk your responsibility to the state; the law you uphold may be your own.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Seeing Red
Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee
And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me.
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), poet
The post-election results are being analyzed and it seems that the issues that matter to the red states are guns, gays and god. The Misanthrope is a bit slow on the uptake, of course -- shot the gays and pray for the deficit to go away.
The red states better hope that prayer works, because they will be doing a lot of praying during the next four years: for health care, for Social Security, for their kids coming home in body bags, and for the innocent people killed in terrorist attacks in metropolitan cities, when no money is spent to secure ports, chemical plants and nuclear sites.
The Misanthrope forgot – god works in mysterious ways.
Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee
And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me.
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), poet
The post-election results are being analyzed and it seems that the issues that matter to the red states are guns, gays and god. The Misanthrope is a bit slow on the uptake, of course -- shot the gays and pray for the deficit to go away.
The red states better hope that prayer works, because they will be doing a lot of praying during the next four years: for health care, for Social Security, for their kids coming home in body bags, and for the innocent people killed in terrorist attacks in metropolitan cities, when no money is spent to secure ports, chemical plants and nuclear sites.
The Misanthrope forgot – god works in mysterious ways.
No Checks and No Balance
He is said to be a model of domesticity, virtue and innocence.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), Irish playwright, referring to Joseph Stalin.
What country divide? George Bush believes the country is not divided. How could it be so, when he has 51% of the votes, a majority Senate, a majority House, and a majority of governors positioned around the country? Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, could not have a better group of potentates.
Democracy requires effort -- time to read, analyze the issues and write legislators. Most people contend that they do not have enough time to read, nor do they follow politics until the day or two prior to the election. Could there be a correlation between voter involvement and the relative lifetime employment plans of the U.S. Congressional Representatives? The Misanthrope believes there is – d’oh!
One of the most intriguing trends was the increased tendency of voters to divide along cultural rather than economic lines. Bush carried a majority of voters without college degrees. And his gains were especially pronounced among married women without college degrees, who had been receptive, both to his peace through strength and conservative social messages. A trend seems to be emerging…
The Misanthrope has no doubt that these people and including others, who attended college and make a terrific salary, would opt to keep Bush in office similar to congressional representatives, and in effect create a benign dictatorship (although The Misanthrope does not believe Bush is Benign). Bush looked in Putin’s eyes and liked what he saw – a dictatorship.
Bush will pursue his course undaunted. One can bet their life (or your neighbor’s child serving in the military) the tone will not change and the country will continue to divide further.
Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.
Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
He is said to be a model of domesticity, virtue and innocence.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), Irish playwright, referring to Joseph Stalin.
What country divide? George Bush believes the country is not divided. How could it be so, when he has 51% of the votes, a majority Senate, a majority House, and a majority of governors positioned around the country? Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, could not have a better group of potentates.
Democracy requires effort -- time to read, analyze the issues and write legislators. Most people contend that they do not have enough time to read, nor do they follow politics until the day or two prior to the election. Could there be a correlation between voter involvement and the relative lifetime employment plans of the U.S. Congressional Representatives? The Misanthrope believes there is – d’oh!
One of the most intriguing trends was the increased tendency of voters to divide along cultural rather than economic lines. Bush carried a majority of voters without college degrees. And his gains were especially pronounced among married women without college degrees, who had been receptive, both to his peace through strength and conservative social messages. A trend seems to be emerging…
The Misanthrope has no doubt that these people and including others, who attended college and make a terrific salary, would opt to keep Bush in office similar to congressional representatives, and in effect create a benign dictatorship (although The Misanthrope does not believe Bush is Benign). Bush looked in Putin’s eyes and liked what he saw – a dictatorship.
Bush will pursue his course undaunted. One can bet their life (or your neighbor’s child serving in the military) the tone will not change and the country will continue to divide further.
Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.
Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Good-bye Democracy, Hello Divine Leadership
"Democracies...have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."
James Madison (1751 - 1836), U.S. president.
Using the words of our near illiterate commander in chief, election night was a catastrophic success. It was catastrophic for those that realize the narrow road Bush is forcing this country down. It was a success for narrow-minded people and special interest groups. This morning the stocks of drug companies soared.
Don't "misunderestimate" the damage that another four years will bring. The Misanthrope believes that the voters of the Midwest and South have set us back 50 plus years. What the hell do morals have to do with the important issues? The Rush Limbaugh’s, the Bill O’Reilly’s, and the religious clergy will go on molesting physically and mentally the people of this country under the guise of pious morals.
Now they can make the claim that the rest of the country is with them, while the Sodom and Gomorrahs on the east and west coast prepare to burn in hell. When in reality the fire has started in the middle and spread to the coasts and around the world.
The Misanthrope hangs his head in shame for this country. As Senator Robert Byrd said, before the election, “We are losing America.” The Misanthrope concedes we have lost America and all credibility as world leaders.
This is a dark day for the United States.
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956), U.S. journalist, critic, and editor.
"Democracies...have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."
James Madison (1751 - 1836), U.S. president.
Using the words of our near illiterate commander in chief, election night was a catastrophic success. It was catastrophic for those that realize the narrow road Bush is forcing this country down. It was a success for narrow-minded people and special interest groups. This morning the stocks of drug companies soared.
Don't "misunderestimate" the damage that another four years will bring. The Misanthrope believes that the voters of the Midwest and South have set us back 50 plus years. What the hell do morals have to do with the important issues? The Rush Limbaugh’s, the Bill O’Reilly’s, and the religious clergy will go on molesting physically and mentally the people of this country under the guise of pious morals.
Now they can make the claim that the rest of the country is with them, while the Sodom and Gomorrahs on the east and west coast prepare to burn in hell. When in reality the fire has started in the middle and spread to the coasts and around the world.
The Misanthrope hangs his head in shame for this country. As Senator Robert Byrd said, before the election, “We are losing America.” The Misanthrope concedes we have lost America and all credibility as world leaders.
This is a dark day for the United States.
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956), U.S. journalist, critic, and editor.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
A Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy
"There is always some basic principle that will ultimately get the Republican Party together. If my observations are worth anything, that basic principle is the cohesive power of public plunder."
A. J. McLaurin, U.S. politician.
It is a true shame that voting in America has turned into a set of legal challenges. Even before the polling places officially open on Nov. 2, the courts have are already been involved in disrupting and casting a suspicious pale over the election.
Ohio is the latest example of republican thuggery and election deceitfulness. A Federal appeals court ruled early Tuesday morning that the Republican Party could place thousands of people inside polling places to challenge the eligibility of voters.
In Philadelphia, republicans have said they plan to challenge 10,000 voters in the heavily black West Philadelphia section because of what they say are concerns of registration fraud. In Florida, Republicans have said they will challenge suspicious voters, if they show up. In South Dakota, 200 Republican monitors are engaging in a list of activities at polling places across the state that include writing down license plate numbers and taking notes.
Possibly by the next presidential election, The Misanthrope believes republicans will be able to bypass the courts and use representatives of the NRA to keep opposition voters away.
"It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting."
Tom Stoppard (1937 - ), Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter.
"There is always some basic principle that will ultimately get the Republican Party together. If my observations are worth anything, that basic principle is the cohesive power of public plunder."
A. J. McLaurin, U.S. politician.
It is a true shame that voting in America has turned into a set of legal challenges. Even before the polling places officially open on Nov. 2, the courts have are already been involved in disrupting and casting a suspicious pale over the election.
Ohio is the latest example of republican thuggery and election deceitfulness. A Federal appeals court ruled early Tuesday morning that the Republican Party could place thousands of people inside polling places to challenge the eligibility of voters.
In Philadelphia, republicans have said they plan to challenge 10,000 voters in the heavily black West Philadelphia section because of what they say are concerns of registration fraud. In Florida, Republicans have said they will challenge suspicious voters, if they show up. In South Dakota, 200 Republican monitors are engaging in a list of activities at polling places across the state that include writing down license plate numbers and taking notes.
Possibly by the next presidential election, The Misanthrope believes republicans will be able to bypass the courts and use representatives of the NRA to keep opposition voters away.
"It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting."
Tom Stoppard (1937 - ), Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter.
Monday, November 01, 2004
The World was Safer with Sadam Hussein Leading Iraq
"A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one can go only by traveling in a straight line until one is stopped."
Norman Mailer (1923 - ), U.S. novelist and journalist.
The results are in. Yes, the world and the United States would be a safer place if Saddam Hussein was still in power. And, if the United States had continued to keep the pressure on the dictator to ensure that he was neutralized as much as possible, more than 100,000 people would be alive today.
More than 1,100 American troops have died in Iraq. But, supporters of our invasion of Iraq are quick to point out that Hussein was killing thousands of Iraqis as one of several rationalizations for invading the country. Bob Herbert, a New York Times columnist, reports that the unofficial estimates by a survey conducted by Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad compared the death rates of Iraqis before and after the American invasion and it found that 100,000 more Iraqis have died in the 18 months since the invasion than would have been expected based on the Iraqi death rates before the war.
How can American justify that? There is no way! America cannot justify this war. This war was revenge for Bush and oil for Cheney. Just ask why Bush has Hussein’s pistol in his office. All the evidence has now shown that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction and that there was no connection between Al Qaeda and Hussein concerning 9/11.
The Misanthrope believes that this is the darkness time of our recent history. What is particularly disquieting is our lack of history. The United States is just another country that is going to be evicted by the citizens of Iraq. We have alienated many of our allies and lower our world standing, and finally, divided our nation. This is the beginning of the end of American dominance and standing as a world leader, if Bush is elected.
"Democracy is a difficult kind of government. It requires the highest qualities of self-discipline, restraint, a willingness to make commitments and sacrifices for the general interest, and it also requires knowledge."
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 - 1963), U.S. president.
"A modern democracy is a tyranny whose borders are undefined; one discovers how far one can go only by traveling in a straight line until one is stopped."
Norman Mailer (1923 - ), U.S. novelist and journalist.
The results are in. Yes, the world and the United States would be a safer place if Saddam Hussein was still in power. And, if the United States had continued to keep the pressure on the dictator to ensure that he was neutralized as much as possible, more than 100,000 people would be alive today.
More than 1,100 American troops have died in Iraq. But, supporters of our invasion of Iraq are quick to point out that Hussein was killing thousands of Iraqis as one of several rationalizations for invading the country. Bob Herbert, a New York Times columnist, reports that the unofficial estimates by a survey conducted by Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad compared the death rates of Iraqis before and after the American invasion and it found that 100,000 more Iraqis have died in the 18 months since the invasion than would have been expected based on the Iraqi death rates before the war.
How can American justify that? There is no way! America cannot justify this war. This war was revenge for Bush and oil for Cheney. Just ask why Bush has Hussein’s pistol in his office. All the evidence has now shown that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction and that there was no connection between Al Qaeda and Hussein concerning 9/11.
The Misanthrope believes that this is the darkness time of our recent history. What is particularly disquieting is our lack of history. The United States is just another country that is going to be evicted by the citizens of Iraq. We have alienated many of our allies and lower our world standing, and finally, divided our nation. This is the beginning of the end of American dominance and standing as a world leader, if Bush is elected.
"Democracy is a difficult kind of government. It requires the highest qualities of self-discipline, restraint, a willingness to make commitments and sacrifices for the general interest, and it also requires knowledge."
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 - 1963), U.S. president.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
O’Really O’Reilly
“I should have been more alert, of course, but I never could mix vigilance and sex.”
William S. Burroughs (1914 - 1997), U.S. writer.
The eponymous right-wing republican (who says he is not voting for George Bush) host of the O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News channel, settled his extortion lawsuit against his female producer, who asked for $60 million in her sexual harassment suit against Bill O’Reilly.
In language that Karl Rove of the Bush White House could have written, O’Reilly told viewers that there was, “no wrongdoing in the case whatsoever by anyone" -- and went on to violate the agreement to keep the details confidential -- by disputing some of the details of what Andrea Mackris alleged were phone-sex conversations between them. “Please do not believe everything you hear and read," he said on "The O'Reilly Factor." The Misanthrope would go slightly further and ask viewers to remember that as it relates specifically to O’Reilly’s show and Fox News as well.
Since when does someone give another person a pile of money, estimates range from $2 million to $10, when there was no wrongdoing? The Misanthrope would like to be the next in line to collect some “no wrongdoing dough.”
This is just another example in a long line of pious republicans and evangelists caught being hypocrites about the morals of society, only to get caught themselves doing exactly what they revel in others getting lambasted for. Right off the top, The Misanthrope recalls two separate examples, a drug addicted Rush Limbaugh and Trinity Broadcasting televangelist Paul Crouch, who paid $450,000 to keep a homosexual tryst quiet.
Maybe republicans and the pious will eventually stop trying to dictate virtues and focus listeners and viewers on issues that matter, war, budgets, medicine and health care.
“Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men—the other 999 follow women.”
Attributed to Groucho Marx (1895 - 1977)
“I should have been more alert, of course, but I never could mix vigilance and sex.”
William S. Burroughs (1914 - 1997), U.S. writer.
The eponymous right-wing republican (who says he is not voting for George Bush) host of the O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News channel, settled his extortion lawsuit against his female producer, who asked for $60 million in her sexual harassment suit against Bill O’Reilly.
In language that Karl Rove of the Bush White House could have written, O’Reilly told viewers that there was, “no wrongdoing in the case whatsoever by anyone" -- and went on to violate the agreement to keep the details confidential -- by disputing some of the details of what Andrea Mackris alleged were phone-sex conversations between them. “Please do not believe everything you hear and read," he said on "The O'Reilly Factor." The Misanthrope would go slightly further and ask viewers to remember that as it relates specifically to O’Reilly’s show and Fox News as well.
Since when does someone give another person a pile of money, estimates range from $2 million to $10, when there was no wrongdoing? The Misanthrope would like to be the next in line to collect some “no wrongdoing dough.”
This is just another example in a long line of pious republicans and evangelists caught being hypocrites about the morals of society, only to get caught themselves doing exactly what they revel in others getting lambasted for. Right off the top, The Misanthrope recalls two separate examples, a drug addicted Rush Limbaugh and Trinity Broadcasting televangelist Paul Crouch, who paid $450,000 to keep a homosexual tryst quiet.
Maybe republicans and the pious will eventually stop trying to dictate virtues and focus listeners and viewers on issues that matter, war, budgets, medicine and health care.
“Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men—the other 999 follow women.”
Attributed to Groucho Marx (1895 - 1977)
How to Vote More Than Once
I just can’t believe the state of our elective process. I voted early this year, as I usually do, at the library downtown. I brought my sample ballot with me, since I had already marked my choices after going through it with my wife, and I figured it would make the actual voting process go a little more quickly if I didn’t have to reread everything in the booth.
That sample ballot unraveled the last threads of my belief in the system.
When I got to the front of the line, a polling official asked me to sign and date the tear-off portion of the sample ballot, and she took it for processing; they handed me a card with a number on it (19) and I was sent to wait in a chair. A few minutes later my number was called, I was handed a smart card, and pointed to a booth.
What was missing there, do you think?
Hmm... how about any attempt to verify my identity? Perhaps a request to see a driver’s license or other official identity document? Or maybe even asking if I was the person named on the sample ballot?
That’s right – as long as you walk in with a sample ballot, you can vote. And it doesn’t even have to be yours.
“So what?” you may ask. How about this: you know someone who isn’t voting, and you ask if you can have their sample ballot. Or you borrow one from a friend, and “lose” it. Or you grab a few from unattended mailboxes. Whatever. Then you go on a tour of early polling places during the week before the election, and you proceed to vote as many times as you have sample ballots. The people whose ballots you stole will probably still vote on election day, since you can vote with a driver’s license if you don’t have your sample ballot – but you’ll have more than made sure your candidate has the most votes, because you and all of your friends have been voting early and often.
I wonder if this is the way we taught them to do it in Afghanistan?
That sample ballot unraveled the last threads of my belief in the system.
When I got to the front of the line, a polling official asked me to sign and date the tear-off portion of the sample ballot, and she took it for processing; they handed me a card with a number on it (19) and I was sent to wait in a chair. A few minutes later my number was called, I was handed a smart card, and pointed to a booth.
What was missing there, do you think?
Hmm... how about any attempt to verify my identity? Perhaps a request to see a driver’s license or other official identity document? Or maybe even asking if I was the person named on the sample ballot?
That’s right – as long as you walk in with a sample ballot, you can vote. And it doesn’t even have to be yours.
“So what?” you may ask. How about this: you know someone who isn’t voting, and you ask if you can have their sample ballot. Or you borrow one from a friend, and “lose” it. Or you grab a few from unattended mailboxes. Whatever. Then you go on a tour of early polling places during the week before the election, and you proceed to vote as many times as you have sample ballots. The people whose ballots you stole will probably still vote on election day, since you can vote with a driver’s license if you don’t have your sample ballot – but you’ll have more than made sure your candidate has the most votes, because you and all of your friends have been voting early and often.
I wonder if this is the way we taught them to do it in Afghanistan?
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Bravo Boston!!
And so I drink long life to the boys who plowed a new equator round the globe stealing bases on their bellies.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
Yeah! They won eight in a row. They came back from a historic impossibility of being down three games to none to the powerhouse New York Yankees, who had the highest payroll in baseball, but obviously not the best team. Then Boston beat St. Louis, the team that had the most wins in baseball, in four straight. Tenacity and perseverance pay off every time, albeit 86 years in this case.
With all the turmoil around the world and in this country during the election season, it is nice to enjoy a great baseball series. The Misanthrope loves being able to enter the world of baseball and for nine innings and a couple of hours forget the outside world, this is what makes baseball the greatest American sport.
Baseball is the greatest of American games. Some say football, but it is my firm belief, and it shall always be, that baseball has no superior.
Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931), U.S. inventor.
Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem...It's impossible to understand America without a thorough knowledge of baseball.
Saul Steinberg (1914 - 1999), Romanian-born U.S. artist and cartoonist.
And so I drink long life to the boys who plowed a new equator round the globe stealing bases on their bellies.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
Yeah! They won eight in a row. They came back from a historic impossibility of being down three games to none to the powerhouse New York Yankees, who had the highest payroll in baseball, but obviously not the best team. Then Boston beat St. Louis, the team that had the most wins in baseball, in four straight. Tenacity and perseverance pay off every time, albeit 86 years in this case.
With all the turmoil around the world and in this country during the election season, it is nice to enjoy a great baseball series. The Misanthrope loves being able to enter the world of baseball and for nine innings and a couple of hours forget the outside world, this is what makes baseball the greatest American sport.
Baseball is the greatest of American games. Some say football, but it is my firm belief, and it shall always be, that baseball has no superior.
Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931), U.S. inventor.
Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem...It's impossible to understand America without a thorough knowledge of baseball.
Saul Steinberg (1914 - 1999), Romanian-born U.S. artist and cartoonist.
Dubya Thinks The Camera Is Off
Yes, it's old... but it's good. How does Bush behave when we're not looking? This may give us a clue; download the quicktime file "Victory Salute".
A Reckless and Arrogant Presidency
“I wasn't lucky. I deserved it.”
Attributed to Margaret Thatcher (1925 - ), British prime minister. After receiving a school prize, aged 9.
Once the issue of the missing explosives was uncovered, a reporter asked the President about the weapons and the President just glared at him. How dare a member of the fourth estate, a watchdog of government dare question this president who believes God ordained him to lead this country.
Finally, President Bush addressed for the first time today (October 27, 2004) the disappearance of 380 tons of explosives in Iraq, accusing his campaign rival, Senator John Kerry, of exploiting the issue without knowing, or caring about, the truth.
Following his religious roots, he practices hypocrisy without missing a beat. Exploiting an issue is what the Bush Administration has done better than any previous president has.
This is the real kicker, "Our military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios, including that the explosives may have been moved before our troops even arrived at the site," President Bush told a Republican crowd in Lancaster, Pa. "This investigation is important and it's ongoing, and a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander-in-chief."
That is right, we don’t want a president who jumps to conclusions or distorts the facts and places the country in the middle of an unwinnable war – a catastrophic success, if you will. The Misanthrope certainly does not feel safer with a clueless president.
Attributed to Margaret Thatcher (1925 - ), British prime minister. After receiving a school prize, aged 9.
Once the issue of the missing explosives was uncovered, a reporter asked the President about the weapons and the President just glared at him. How dare a member of the fourth estate, a watchdog of government dare question this president who believes God ordained him to lead this country.
Finally, President Bush addressed for the first time today (October 27, 2004) the disappearance of 380 tons of explosives in Iraq, accusing his campaign rival, Senator John Kerry, of exploiting the issue without knowing, or caring about, the truth.
Following his religious roots, he practices hypocrisy without missing a beat. Exploiting an issue is what the Bush Administration has done better than any previous president has.
This is the real kicker, "Our military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios, including that the explosives may have been moved before our troops even arrived at the site," President Bush told a Republican crowd in Lancaster, Pa. "This investigation is important and it's ongoing, and a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander-in-chief."
That is right, we don’t want a president who jumps to conclusions or distorts the facts and places the country in the middle of an unwinnable war – a catastrophic success, if you will. The Misanthrope certainly does not feel safer with a clueless president.
Wireless Guns = Public Safety
In the spirit of Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation, in which the author predicts technological developments based on a visionary's ideas of "what" but not an engineer's knowledge of "how", I present my thoughts on gun control.
We already have PDAs and phones with wireless net access, that allow you to surf and buy and track and find, so I'm suggesting wireless handguns as the next step forward in personal and public safety.
Here's the deal: handguns that only operate for a particular user are already available, made possible by RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device). This equips a gun with radio waves and an antenna to receive those waves. The waves are transmitted from a ring or wristband worn by the shooter. The gun would be capable of accepting several memory codes; this would be helpful for families that have more than one authorized user. It would also satisfy law enforcement's need to have several officers capable of firing the same weapon (so that, for example, if one officer is killed in a firefight, another officer can use his gun). [Source]
This could be made a mandatory component of all handguns, with one addition: an uplink that logs each use of every gun to a database, which can be searched and cross-referenced by law enforcement. Any firing would be recorded, and the possible users of that gun would already be registered. Normally this sort of data wouldn't be accessed - hunting and training ranges and similar legal and regulated activities have little need of such constant observation. But bullets from the guns would be "tagged" in some fashion as they are fired from the gun, and could be traced to the gun records on-line. Get the bullet, trace the user, put the criminal in jail.
Another thought is a DNA sniffer on the trigger of such guns which would identify the user and then encode or tag that information on the bullet - guns don't need to be registered or on-line for this to work, since alll bullets would be traceable to the person who fired them.
Until the public starts demanding such new technologies to better protect themselves, unregulated purchase and use of handguns will continue to result in needless deaths. This isn't to say that such technologies will eliminate crime immediately, but improved tracking and prosecution of criminals based on these or similar methods will deter such crimes.
We already have PDAs and phones with wireless net access, that allow you to surf and buy and track and find, so I'm suggesting wireless handguns as the next step forward in personal and public safety.
Here's the deal: handguns that only operate for a particular user are already available, made possible by RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device). This equips a gun with radio waves and an antenna to receive those waves. The waves are transmitted from a ring or wristband worn by the shooter. The gun would be capable of accepting several memory codes; this would be helpful for families that have more than one authorized user. It would also satisfy law enforcement's need to have several officers capable of firing the same weapon (so that, for example, if one officer is killed in a firefight, another officer can use his gun). [Source]
This could be made a mandatory component of all handguns, with one addition: an uplink that logs each use of every gun to a database, which can be searched and cross-referenced by law enforcement. Any firing would be recorded, and the possible users of that gun would already be registered. Normally this sort of data wouldn't be accessed - hunting and training ranges and similar legal and regulated activities have little need of such constant observation. But bullets from the guns would be "tagged" in some fashion as they are fired from the gun, and could be traced to the gun records on-line. Get the bullet, trace the user, put the criminal in jail.
Another thought is a DNA sniffer on the trigger of such guns which would identify the user and then encode or tag that information on the bullet - guns don't need to be registered or on-line for this to work, since alll bullets would be traceable to the person who fired them.
Until the public starts demanding such new technologies to better protect themselves, unregulated purchase and use of handguns will continue to result in needless deaths. This isn't to say that such technologies will eliminate crime immediately, but improved tracking and prosecution of criminals based on these or similar methods will deter such crimes.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
But where will they get the tacos from?
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Taco Bell will serve up a free taco to every American, baseball fan or not, if a Boston Red Sox or Saint Louis Cardinals batter hits a home run into a taco target during the World Series game tonight.
One question: where is Taco Bell going to find tacos?
One question: where is Taco Bell going to find tacos?
Drooling and Driving
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California prosecutors are cracking down on motorists who are driving under the intoxicating influence of kava, an herbal tea gaining in popularity here.
Following their first successful conviction in June, San Mateo County prosecutors have filed three other cases, said San Mateo Deputy District Attorney Chris Feasel on Monday.
Motorists under the influence of Kava had a "thousand-yard stare," Feasel said. "They're drooling on themselves sometimes, their motor function is so bad," he added.
Later reports revealed that the convicted driver was not under the influence of kava at all, but was just George W. Bush out for a joy ride.
"The drooling was the real give-away," Feasel said.
Following their first successful conviction in June, San Mateo County prosecutors have filed three other cases, said San Mateo Deputy District Attorney Chris Feasel on Monday.
Motorists under the influence of Kava had a "thousand-yard stare," Feasel said. "They're drooling on themselves sometimes, their motor function is so bad," he added.
Later reports revealed that the convicted driver was not under the influence of kava at all, but was just George W. Bush out for a joy ride.
"The drooling was the real give-away," Feasel said.
Budget Discussion, with a Side of Fries
Lawmakers in Food Fight Over Arms Budget
TAIPEI (Reuters) - A food fight erupted in Taiwan's parliament on Tuesday as lawmakers quarrelling over a massive arms budget hurled their lunch boxes at each other.
"You've got no shame!" screamed Chu Fong-chih of the opposition Nationalist Party, after throwing a take-out box of chicken and rice at Chen Tsung-yi, a legislator from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who backed the special budget. Chen responded by accusing Chu of sympathizing with Taiwan's arch-foe China, and flung his own lunch box at her.
Tom DeLay could not be reached for comment, but I'm sure he's taking notes.
TAIPEI (Reuters) - A food fight erupted in Taiwan's parliament on Tuesday as lawmakers quarrelling over a massive arms budget hurled their lunch boxes at each other.
"You've got no shame!" screamed Chu Fong-chih of the opposition Nationalist Party, after throwing a take-out box of chicken and rice at Chen Tsung-yi, a legislator from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who backed the special budget. Chen responded by accusing Chu of sympathizing with Taiwan's arch-foe China, and flung his own lunch box at her.
Tom DeLay could not be reached for comment, but I'm sure he's taking notes.
Monday, October 25, 2004
Encouraging You Not to Vote
This past week in Mallard Fillmore (a right-leaning comic strip), the title character encourages everyone reading the strip to "ignore your T.V." and, if they haven't acquainted themselves with the issues of this presidential campaign, "DON'T VOTE!"
Aren't they embarrassed?
Seriously, it's not that I want uneducated people choosing a president based on the sound of his (or her) name, or the cut of his hair, but discouraging people from voting is a horrible form of anti-Americanism. The comic could better use its space to present issues, perhaps, rather than discourage popular participation in the electoral process.
Or, with a week to go before the election, how about just encouraging people to read up on the issues and make an informed decision? I get the feeling that the suggestion to skip voting is followed with a "wink wink" to Bush supporters, who should know that, of course, they should not be deterred from the polls, regardless of their knowledge of the issues; it's all of those moderate and liberal Americans who will vote for Kerry that scare the creators of Mallard, and whom they hope to discourage.
It makes me sick - with only half of all Americans voting in presidential elections, it is shameful to discourage even more from voting; espouse your crazy right-wing views, criticize Kerry, use your soapbox for whatever information you wish, but don't do America the disservice of telling its citizens not to vote.
Aren't they embarrassed?
Seriously, it's not that I want uneducated people choosing a president based on the sound of his (or her) name, or the cut of his hair, but discouraging people from voting is a horrible form of anti-Americanism. The comic could better use its space to present issues, perhaps, rather than discourage popular participation in the electoral process.
Or, with a week to go before the election, how about just encouraging people to read up on the issues and make an informed decision? I get the feeling that the suggestion to skip voting is followed with a "wink wink" to Bush supporters, who should know that, of course, they should not be deterred from the polls, regardless of their knowledge of the issues; it's all of those moderate and liberal Americans who will vote for Kerry that scare the creators of Mallard, and whom they hope to discourage.
It makes me sick - with only half of all Americans voting in presidential elections, it is shameful to discourage even more from voting; espouse your crazy right-wing views, criticize Kerry, use your soapbox for whatever information you wish, but don't do America the disservice of telling its citizens not to vote.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
All Voters Welcome, If You Vote for Our Candidate
As long as I count the votes, what are you going to do about it?
Boss Tweed (1823 - 1878), U.S. politician; or Jeb Bush, Florida, Governor
The Bush Administration is trying to spread democracy around the world just as missionaries worked to spread the teachings of Christianity. But, a closer look reveals that the Republicans follow the old cliché ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ While the Republicans happily point to the numbers of people who voted in the elections in Afghanistan and who will hopefully vote in the upcoming elections in Iraq, they don't want you to vote in the U.S. unless you are voting for them. The Republicans plan to give new Democratic voters a difficult time in the United States, if this is their first time.
According the Oct. 23, New York Times, Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.
Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
If republicans can’t win honestly, they will find another way.
As long as I count the votes, what are you going to do about it?
Boss Tweed (1823 - 1878), U.S. politician; or Jeb Bush, Florida, Governor
The Bush Administration is trying to spread democracy around the world just as missionaries worked to spread the teachings of Christianity. But, a closer look reveals that the Republicans follow the old cliché ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ While the Republicans happily point to the numbers of people who voted in the elections in Afghanistan and who will hopefully vote in the upcoming elections in Iraq, they don't want you to vote in the U.S. unless you are voting for them. The Republicans plan to give new Democratic voters a difficult time in the United States, if this is their first time.
According the Oct. 23, New York Times, Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.
Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
If republicans can’t win honestly, they will find another way.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Attack of the Clones
What is the real problem with cloning, anyway? We are on the edge of the future (as everyone is and has been on every day of their lives from the beginning of time until this very moment and into the forseeable future) and still, many people are very nervous about anything new or strange.
Let's face it: first, we've never been any good at developing technology and then not using it. So it's pretty much inevitable that if we can clone people, we will.
Second, is a clone going to be any different from a "regular" person in any important way? (Especially once we conquer sickness and death.) Once decanted, a clone will grow and mature, affected by nature (its cloned genes) but also by nurture. Are identical twins less "normal" because they are not unique? They why should clones be any different? They will not be exact copies of the individuals from which they are cloned, because they will grow up under different circumstances. And anyone who wants to read mre on the topic can check out Ira Levin's The Boys From Brazil, which is apparently so en vogue right now that it's out of print. And as for the religious argument: if identical twins, with identical DNA, can have independent souls, then why not clones? To misquote Shakespeare, "if you prick a clone, does it not bleed?"
Third, let's look at the folks that are really going to take advantage of cloning. People who can't have children any other way? Good for them! People who want to live out their dreams through genetically-identical children? If you can't make "regular" children do what you want, what makes you think clones will be any easier to push around? What about terrorists or dictators building a clone army? Again, it would take so long to do it, and be so fraught with logistical difficulties... it's easier to get some regulars off the street and brainwash them or promise them an afterlife filled with virgins.
Clone away, I say.
For all the good it'll do you.
Let's face it: first, we've never been any good at developing technology and then not using it. So it's pretty much inevitable that if we can clone people, we will.
Second, is a clone going to be any different from a "regular" person in any important way? (Especially once we conquer sickness and death.) Once decanted, a clone will grow and mature, affected by nature (its cloned genes) but also by nurture. Are identical twins less "normal" because they are not unique? They why should clones be any different? They will not be exact copies of the individuals from which they are cloned, because they will grow up under different circumstances. And anyone who wants to read mre on the topic can check out Ira Levin's The Boys From Brazil, which is apparently so en vogue right now that it's out of print. And as for the religious argument: if identical twins, with identical DNA, can have independent souls, then why not clones? To misquote Shakespeare, "if you prick a clone, does it not bleed?"
Third, let's look at the folks that are really going to take advantage of cloning. People who can't have children any other way? Good for them! People who want to live out their dreams through genetically-identical children? If you can't make "regular" children do what you want, what makes you think clones will be any easier to push around? What about terrorists or dictators building a clone army? Again, it would take so long to do it, and be so fraught with logistical difficulties... it's easier to get some regulars off the street and brainwash them or promise them an afterlife filled with virgins.
Clone away, I say.
For all the good it'll do you.
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