Posts

Showing posts from November 17, 2002
Wired News: Law Grads Online, Bar None Yet another reason I LOVE TECHNOLOGY! Sure they are scoffed at now but in a few years, I surmise you'll see more and more of this type of thing.
TechCentralStation :: EUROPE :: The Celtic Tiger Another good article about the "Celtic Tiger" and it's 10 year growth cycle. There have been rumblings of late that the cycle is slowing or even reversing. (Much of this is based on personal experiences and anecdotal data)
TNR Online | Rogue State (print) this is an old one but I'd be remiss if I didn't put it here. Entirely too funny, esp. if you live here.
What kind of gaijin are you? Interesting article on Expats in Japan and oneupmanship. I'm sure Tom and Jimmy have had similar experiences.
Image
NYPOST.COM Post Opinion: Oped Columnists: KNOW THY TERRORISTS By DANIEL PIPES Jayna Davis files Judging Judges Libertarians hurting GOP at the polls More on the Hermit Kingdom Gore's Suicide? Dick Morris might have strange sexual fetishes, but he is a rather astute political analyst. (note to self: keep a record of his predictions to check for accuracy rate) In this missive he details exactly how Gore's leftward move is going to end his career in a big flaming wreck. If he's correct, it will be very fun to watch.
The National Question
Smuggled tapes show luxury life of Castro This only really qualifies as "news" to committed, head-in-the-sand leftists who prasie Cuba as a Worker's Paradise ( Irv Homer call your office). The most interesting part is watching them spin this stuff. I'm sure we'll hear all about how CEO's of Fortune 500 Companies make X times the amount of the average worker blah blah blah. My question, ok, but when was the last time a Fortune 500 CEO has his critics and rivals jailed and tortured? How many people are fleeing Tyco on rafts?
Pyongyang's Dangerous Game More on Pyongyangs desparate gamble. Announcing they have nukes has likely moved them up on the list of countries to isolate and "re-engineer".
OpinionJournal - From the Heartland Walter Williams has been railing against "open space" provisions for a long time now. He correctly points out that "open space" provisions are directly responsible for dramatic increases in housing costs by creating an artificial shortage of living space. The unintented (or perhaps, intended but unforseen by most) consequence is the destruction of private property rights. Read it.
OpinionJournal - Extra Good analysis and suggested direction for dealing w/ the Hermit Kingdom. Sowcroft is firmly on point in his analysis as well as his suggestions.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Polly Toynbee: Was the war on Afghanistan worth it? Cats and dogs living together! The Guardian praises the US military as a force for good!
ORANGE COUNTY WEEKLY OC Weekly: Cover: The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Against Mike Davis Ok, methinks this guy is off the deep end but I'll have to investigate further...
Questions Arise on Accounting at United Way Yet another reason I don't give them my money
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iranian students clash with hardliners More fiddling
Militia Force and Students Clash in Continuing Tehran Protest The mullahs fiddle while Terhan burns...
Michael Moore once again puts distortions and contradictions before the truth This isn't news to the anti-idiotarian crowd but I find Spinsanity to be quite fair and critical of both left and right in the past. Hence they have good cred' with me. Michael Moore is a self-aggrandizing ass who's main interest is himself. He derides "millionaire fatcats" at every turn and yet he is one. There are too many examples of his stupidity and hypocrisy to list especially when others have done such a great job.
The Weekly James The comments on the article (some of them anyway, esp. those by Nick) are quite interesting. Nick, however, misses the point that 99.999% of people are environmentalists. Everyone is in favor of clean air and clean water but just how is the big question. Greens think that less is automatically better and therefore not decreasing the levels of anything in the air and water is tantamount to the wholesale rape of the planet. The financial and human costs are very very important. The whole debate of arsenic in the water was a prime example. Democrats needed and issue ad a few years back and pounded on the GOP for this one. Never mind that the difference in the levels was extremely small but the cost of implementing the difference could have been in the billions depending upon who's numbers you believe. Combine that with the fact that one stem of broccoli has more arsenic than we're talking about and you have pure demogogeury. The truth wasn't the p
The Phantom Empire I think the author makes some important points. Overall, I half-agree. He contends that we do not live up to the traditional definition of an empire. I agree. However, perhaps a new definition is in order. Quote (emphasis mine): Still, despite the endorsement the notion of an American empire has received from writers across the political spectrum, something is missing from the analysis. There is more to having an empire than simply the possession of great power. [b]Empire presupposes the existence of a military establishment that is charged with the task of insuring, through the threat and use of force, that local and regional conflicts are settled by the application of imperial power. Understood that way, the imperial model does not match American foreign policy as it has actually developed since the end of the Cold War[/b]: Indeed, we fear empire rather than welcome it. End quote. Here I'm not so sure I agree. Did we not jump into Somalia,
United Press International: Anglosphere: Yippie-yi-yo-ki-ota Ah, more good news. I'm a big fan of secession movements. Not b/c I want to see the world dissolve into city-states ruled by princelings but rather that they show the bureaucrats that the public is angry and willing to leave and start over to correct things. Such dramatic measures frequently get results. Had Bloc Quebecois succeeded I think we would have seen very different things happening in both Canada and the US. I think the end result of this might be a more federal system for Canada which is very good news for the average Canadian. Devolution of power is a catching and many in England are agitating for an English parliment and even an English democracy apart from Great Britain. Given how much of their dollars go to the "jocks" as they call them, I don't blame them. Looks like the same thing is happening in Canada. Let's not forget our friends Free State Project I, for one,
Salon.com Comics | This Modern World Finally some honesty. I haven't read his 'toon in a while so I was reading some of the ones I missed. This one is good. I don't agree with the proposals but his point is correct. Politicians first job is always to get elected. Everything else comes second. Everything.
Salon.com Comics | This Modern World I do like This Modern World but the author does take leave of his senses at times. This cartoon is a prime example. He asserts that there are no provable links between Iraq and Al Quada. That is not so. Just ask <a href="http://www.Jaynadavis.com</a>. She's been pounding on the extensive case that she's built and tied a lot of loose threads together. It does not show proof but with her very limited resources, she's shown probable links that have made some Senators take notice. <br /> <br />Point 2: The weapons inspectors withdrew when Saddam and his cabal continually harried, thwarted and blocked the inspection team's efforts. It was pointless to continue and Butler knew it. Imagine trying to go to a bar and the bouncer keeps blocking the door and tells you there's nobody inside and they don't even serve alcohol. You call him a lying SOB and leave. The next day the papers report that
Faster Politics Mickey Kaus The more I think about this, the more I think it applies. Other's have spoken of "waves" of information that come increasingly faster but none have put it so aptly as Kause and Feiler. Witness Minnesota. The memorial/campaign rally was thought to be a grand coup for the Democrat party but in reality it was an unmitigated disaster. Rather than rest quietly on Wellstone's grave, they danced on it with religious ferver. The average voter was able to see and integrated the unseemliness of it all very quickly and the day after the service the polls showed it. I surmise the effect extended beyoned Minnesota and did so quickly. It would be impossible to prove but intuitively it makes sense.