Life Is Hard...

France, Germany: Hypo Powers

Congrats to Victor Davis Hanson for this great money quote:

The trendy notion of America as a "hyperpower" is largely an artifact of the aftermath of the Cold War. True, we enjoy unmatched military strength. Sure, we spend more on defense than do the next ten or so nations collectively. But that imbalance is not a reflection of a wish to dominate the globe, but mostly due to the abject collapse of an empire that failed to do precisely that...

The fact is that we have been consistent in a predictable 60-year commitment to national security, while our friends and former enemies — by intent or default — have followed different paths since 1989. We stayed mostly the same as they became hypopowers that, to take a small example, would and could do nothing should a madman in Korea wish to kill millions.

if anyone on September 12, 2001, had predicted that 22 months later there would still be no repeat of 9/11; that bin Laden would be either quiet, dead, or in hiding; that al Qaeda would be dispersed, the Taliban gone, and the likes of a Mr. Karzai in Kabul; that Saddam Hussein would be out of power, his sons dead, and an Iraqi national council emerging in his place; that troops would be leaving Saudi Arabia, Arafat ostracized, and Sharon seeking negotiations; that new Middle East agreements under discussion — and all at a cost of fewer than 300 American lives — then he would surely have been written off as a madman.

Update:
I just noticed that my previous entry was my eleventy-first update to this blog! And as some of us might know, 111 + 33 = 144, also known as "one gross." Aren't numbers fun, Sam?

GOBA Weather

Catching up on some old news... before I left on GOBA I printed out the 10-day forecast from weather.com. I then kept notes, to see just how accurate the prediction would be. Here's the results:

Saturday Forecast: Scattered T-Storms.
Saturday Reality: Rain most of the morning until 2:00 PM, then clear. Humid.

Sunday Forecast: Partly Cloudy.
Sunday Reality: Partly Cloudy. Nice.

Monday Forecast: Partly Cloudy, high in the 70's.
Monday Reality: Brief rain shower in the morning, then clear all day.

Tuesday Forecast: Scattered T-Storms.
Tuesday Reality: Afternoon rain for about an hour, then clear and breezy.

Wednesday Forecast: Isolated T-Storms.
Wednesday Reailty: T-Storms were visible in the distance, but no rain fell where we were.

Thursday Forecast: Isolated T-Storms.
Thursday Reality: A storm system hit us hard around 1:00 PM, but lasted for only twenty minutes. A pleasant breeze from the north blew for the rest of the day, and dried up almost all of the rain.

Friday Forecast: Partly Cloudy.
Friday Reality: Mostly Sunny.

Saturday Forecast: T-Storms.
Saturday Reality: Sunny.

So there you have it. Really, the folks at weather.com should be congratulated on a highly accurate 10-day forecast.

Matt Learns To Haggle!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Crandall"
To:
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2003 6:12 PM
Subject: akro-mills letter-sized project cases

> 664201BCL
>
> I'd like to buy two cartons of these (12 project cases in total), but I'm
> not willing to pay $8.99 !! Especially not when Officemin was selling
> them to me for just $6.99 last year. (i saved my reciept)
>
> If you're willing to deal, let me know. I'll pay $6.99 per case for the
12,
> which would work out to $83.88, plus a reasonable amount for shipping UPS
> Ground from Mississippi ($12) == $95.88.
>
> Thanks,
> -Matt
>

Matt, thank you for shopping www.organizes-it.com Since we are about to run
an ad for these at $6.99 we would be happy to sell them to you for that
price. Please phone me directly at (800)210-7712 to place an order.

Chris @ Organize-It

Attacking The Messenger

A mob of Palestinian hoodlums attacked a polling agency because they didn't like the poll results. These people don't need a state, they need a prison!

Furniture Pics

Here are pics of the old furniture I want to sell:

Couch:

LoveSeat:

Recliners:
View image

Thou Shalt Honor Thy Father and Mother

Or else they might toss your computer out of a twelth story window!
And a note to the parents: please look before you lob.

I Closed On My Condo Today

Woohoo!