Life Is Hard...

Christmas Request List

This web log entry is to provide a space for people in the various branches of my family to post their Christmas Requests.

Tragedies and Statistics

My sister nearly threw her car keys out with the trash last week, (and I guess she tends to misplace them in general), so my mom bought her a self-locating key fob: A person just needs to give a little whistle, and the key fob will hear the whistle and start chirping. The missing car keys can then be found by listening for the audible clue.

Well, at least that's how it's supposed to work. In reality, it turns out that common household noises like that from radios, televisions, and even laughter can result in false-positives. The unsought keys suddenly draw themselves unwanted and even hostile attention, kind of like a redneck at a tea party. Frustrated, my sister burried the plaintively chirping key fob in the bottom of her husband's sock drawer.

Believe it or not, I actually spent many long hours last night feeling the pain of the poor unloved key fob. Sometimes I find inanimate objects to be much more lovable than living, breathing things, but in this case I also couldn't help but feel sorry for whoever designed the misbegotten fob. In my mind I have the image of a poor inventor, desperately trying to eke out his daily bread by selling truckloads of chirping key fobs. A Gepetto-ish character, whose only creation is a dead and lifeless Pinocchio, and this time there isn't going to be a Fairy Godmother or Magic Wand to Save The Day. This story doesn't end in success but instead in tragedy, as the key-fob buyers of the world pack Pinocchio back in the box and look for the receipt.

And that's the problem: I want everyone to succeed, everyone to be happy, everyone to have peace. It makes me sad to think of failures, even if it's just a key fob. But you can't have a free market system without risks and failure.

To paraphrase Stalin, "The death of one man's dream is the tragedy of capitalism, while the death of a million dreams is just a statistic of communism."

So Why Are You Telling Us?

Today's Newsweek Web Exclusive: Possible new financial ties have been discovered between Saudi Arabia and the Semptember 11th Murderers. Apparently, "payments—amounting to about $3,500 a month—came from an account at Washington’s Riggs Bank in the name of Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, the wife of Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and the daughter of the late Saudi King Faisal." These payments were then possibly passed on to two of the Murderers by way of an intermediary.

Now here is where it gets interesting. According to the Newsweek article, "Administration officials expressed concerns that premature disclosure of the evidence of the financial payments could jeopardize the ongoing FBI probe, especially the bureau’s efforts to apprehend and develop a case against [the perpetrators].", and if that wasn't enough, the article also says "Administration officials stressed repeatedly in interviews that they do not know the purpose of the payments" and "...it is also uncertain whether the money was given to the hijackers."

So what does Newsweek do? They make this a frontpage story!

Newsweek quotes Sen. Bob Graham as saying “This one stinks of people using classified information” for political purposes.

Well Newsweek, you aren't smelling so fresh yourself.

Another One Gone...

It occured to me today that I have not heard Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" on the radio for several months, in fact, not since the Sniper crime spree. Coincidence?

Actors Protest: Demand Tax Cut for the Rich!?

According to this article, mebers of the screen actors guild and also a Democratic congressman are protesting in New York, advocating a tax cut for the rich.

Apparently, a movie about former Mayor Giuliani is being filmed in Canada instead of the New York City, at least in part because "Canada offers wage-based incentives that can cover 35 percent of labor expenses."

The protestors propose giving film producers a "25 percent tax credit for wages if they film in the United States."

Heh. Personally, I would favor a special tax INCREASE on those greedy hollywood producers. I mean, there is no such thing as Trickle-Down Economics, right? A tax cut for the rich would never benefit the working classes, now would it? The whole thing is nothing more than a weak attempt by the bourgeois to yet again exploit the proletariat.

PETA Protest: Revisionist History?

Apparently there has been another Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy intent on Hiding The Truth (C), this time with regards to the PETA protest.

Re: Dr. Poindexter, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying Yet Still Loathe Big Brother

There has been a lot of talk lately about the proposal to create a national information database to help discover the villians amongst us. The defenders of civil liberties are saying the usual things; predicting the complete loss of our privacy is one of them. Even instapundit is jumping on the bandwagon.

On the other hand, PJ Hinton says:

However, getting something like this assembled, online, and yielding anything close to a usable product will take several years, lots of money, and countless man-hours. Are you doubtful? Consider the track record another [sic] agency of evil proportions -- the Internal Revenue Service. The press has covered its repeated failures to upgrade their computer systems, despite spending huge amounts of money.

I agree. The real threat to civil liberties is the bloatage of Title 18. Let's face it, if someone in federal law enforcement wants to screw with you, they probably already can, just using existing federal law. I think the civil liberties crowd would be better off using their political capital, such as it is, to push for a sunset provision on all new federal laws. Let's make it a constitutional ammendment: No federal law shall apply for more than ten years. At the end of ten years, the law cannot be renewed without an act of Congress.

Great Rumsfeld Quote

Rumsfeld, on potential war with Iraq:

"People [might] say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction."

World War III

Members of the Loony Fringe are sounding off again about how a potential war with Iraq could/would lead us all into World War Three. Now just one second. World War Three? World War Three?!

Okay all you members of the Loony Fringe, I solicit you: who in the world is going to stand up to the United States? And I mean with more than words! The European street may riot, the Arab street may riot, but so what? Rioting illiterates in the street doth not an army make.

The only workable scenario I see for World War III would be if the U.S. military broke itself in half and started a civil war.

Who's in Control Around Here, Anyway?

I think I've finally figured out what's going in in the Lame Duck Session of the Senate.

Okay, let's see... The Senate was aligned 50 Repubs, 50 Dems before Jeffords became an 'independent'. But because he voted with the Democratic Caucus, the Dems got control of the Senate comittee chairmanships. So that left the Senate with 49 Repubs, 50 Dems, and 1 Independent.

Now, in the meantime, Jean Carnahan was appointed for a two year term since her husband was elected posthumously in 2000 and was unable to take office. Her "relection" campaign was not really a re-election at all, but a special election, with the victor eligible to take office immediately.

Introduce Senator Wellstone's untimely death, and his temporary replacement with a second Independent candidate, Senator Barkley.

Okay, now the election take place, and Senator Carnahan of Missouri loses to Repub. Jim Talent.

Work the numbers and you get 50 Repubs, 48 Dems, and 2 Independents.

So, because Talent defeated Carnahan in Missouri, the Republicans thought that they would have a clear majority in the Senate during the Lame-Duck Session, even if both of the Independents voted for the Democratic Caucus.(The result from such a vote would have been a 50-50 tie with VP Cheney as the tie-breaker).

But, in order for Talent to take office immediately, his election results have to be certified by the Democratic Governor of Missouri, which has not happened. So, for as long as the Missouri Governor uses stalling tactics, and for as long as Senator Barkley from Minnesota agrees to stay Independent, the Dems will retain control of the Committee chairs throughout the Lame Duck Session.

This article does as good a job as any at explaining the situation:

http://www.hillnews.com/news/110602/talent.shtm

Joe Palko Groks WebLogs

I'm using this post to show Joe how the MoveableType software works.

Cat-Sitting

What a wonderful morning. I took the day off from work so I could keep a watchful eye on my girlfriend's new kitten. While I tried to doze off, 'Champ' insisted on sitting on my head, licking my face, biting my toes, and mewling plaintively. :-)

Corporate Corruption, Purely a Bush Phenomenon?

... do hopeless lefties really believe this stuff?

So the Democrats lost the Senate, and we are now riding in a country driven by insane TEK-9-toting, power-drunk nepotists and megalomaniacs who think war is good and business should not be asked any especially personal questions (like, did you really make that $9 billion, or did you make that up?)

...under a Republican administration, with the economy in the toilet, corporate scandals everywhere and all linked to prominent GOP politicians...

Thus sayeth the "bitter shack of resentment". Her $9 billion is a reference to the WorldCom bankruptcy. But wait! A closer examination of recent news reveals that $7 billion of the mistated earnings was discovered when the SEC further investigated WorldCom finances for the years 1999 and 2000; years during which the SEC was still under the control of the Clinton Administration. Oh my! Could it be possible that the WorldCom debacle originated during Clinton's Decade of Prosperity?

(Aside: Why is it that Clinton gets to have a Decade of Prosperity, but Reagan only got a Decade of Greed? Hmm.)

Or could it be possible that the corporate scandals have less to do with who's in control of congress, and more to do with the breakdown of morals in general?

I laugh at you, Miss Bitters, and your blatant hypocrisy. With one hand you lend implicit support to the idea of indulging the Seven Deadly Sins, while with the other you chastise those greedy corporate Republicans. Have you forgotten that Envy and Greed are amongst the Seven?

Let's get things rolling.

Today I have joined the Blogosphere. Whether this event is worthy of the world's attention, I do not pretend to know. My inspiration for starting this blog comes from Instapundit.com, aka Glenn Reynolds, who imho is probably responsible for the creation of 95% of the worlds' webblogs.

And, since it is Veterans Day...