Author: david

  • These US soldiers in Iraq present such an excruciating paradox.

    These US soldiers in Iraq present such an excruciating paradox. On the one hand, we have seen how, with the right (i..e., wrong) people and setting, the slippery slope of prisoner abuse plummets deep into the abyss. But then there is the astonishing generosity, altruism, self-sacrifice that can show up, something that they almost take…

  • A Sweet Old Baseball Rivalry

    The Chicago White Sox’ unexpected sweep of the Boston Red Sox in this year’s World Series calls to mind the mostly forgotten early years of the game, when Baseball franchises were owned mainly by the major cookie companies, and the classic rivalry was between the Baltimore Oreos and the Chicago Hydrox.

  • If getting pregnant were like catching a cold

    If getting pregnant were like catching a cold, just something that people randomly came down with, I doubt the government would even think of coercing those who caught it to take the pregnancies to term–even though the Pro Life-Baby Killer considerations would be just the same. There is definitely a sexual anxiety at play here…

  • Be Prepared

    HANOI (Reuters) – The spread of Asia’s deadly bird flu to Europe is a “troubling sign” and the world must work faster to prepare for a potential flu pandemic, U.S. Health Secretary Mike Leavitt said on Friday. —————– I hear that Bush White House officials are assembling a team of top Public Relations experts from…

  • More on “Appearance of a Conflict of Interest”

    I am inspired by Dumpster’s post below, to make a general point about “The Appearance of a Conflict Interest.” I believe the meanings of the key terms here have become distorted and compromised in recent years. It may not affect this EPA ruling directly, but the Inspector General did contribute to the convenient confusion surrounding…

  • The “Barbara Bush Principle”

    Papers Offer Peek at Miers’s Views Washington Post Miers, President Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, said in her 1995 letter to Bush that the legislation was a blatant attempt to protect a “handful of greedy, but immensely rich and powerful” trial lawyers. ————————– DKo: The legislation in question protected the use of a lawyer’s…

  • In Honor of the Yom Kippur Fast

    This is from the weekly prophetical reading that is designated for Yom Kippur (Beginning this year on the evening of October 12.): Jeremiah 58 6 …this is the fast I desire: To unlock the fetters of wickedness, And untie the cords of the yoke To let the oppressed go free; To break off every yoke.…

  • Sorry Gallows Humour

    The real problem with medical marijuana, the DEA says, is not its specific effects on health, but that it “sends absolutely the wrong message to elderly people.” This age group tends to view debilitating diseases as “cool,” and statistical studies indicate powerful peer-pressure for illness and pain at this age. It may also be a…

  • Shock and Opossumism

    Bush ‘encouraged’ despite report on Iraqi troops, Reuters During congressional testimony on Thursday, Gen. George Casey, top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Gen. John Abizaid, top U.S. commander in the Middle East, said the number of such battalions [that can go into combat without the help of the U.S. military] had dropped since July to…

  • George W. Ozymandias

    It is hard to express how catastrophic these kinds of results from a very mainstream survey are for the President of unilateral “shock and awe.” There is no middle ground. The last great military Superpower must either rule the world , or else become mere meathead muscle for the policies of other lands Public Rejects…

  • War Is Where You Find It

    Anti-war protesters pick up steam and take cause to D.C. . “Organizers expect more than 100,000 people for a march around the White House on Saturday. Sheehan is scheduled to speak. Rallies by war supporters are expected along the route.” USA Today 9/24/05 –The war supporters are expected to include some who support the current…

  • A Little Understanding, Please…

    Aside from the very slight chances of a hurricane and a flood occurring coincidentally, planners had to identify and assign personnel according to their skills. It must be remembered: –Every hurricane or flood is different. Some call for public-safety skills, boats and sandbagging, while others require clockmakers and paleontologists. –The records had to be, by…

  • Sympathy for the FEMA

    “In Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge, the head of FEMA, Michael D. Brown said power outages, rising waters and violence by looters and others shooting at rescuers had complicated relief efforts.” .-LA Times How is FEMA supposed to function effectively under these kind of adverse conditions? Rising waters! Power outages! Looters! Who can be expected plan…

  • Deep Thinker at the Helm

    And they say his imagination is limited… …in Air Force One. Turning to his aides, he said: “It’s totally wiped out. … It’s devastating, it’s got to be doubly devastating on the ground.” (Newsweek)

  • Yes, I get sophomoric when I vent.

    President Bush has announced his first priority response to the disaster in New Orleans has been to head off flooding in all major waterways surrounding Crawford, Texas. “We are not about to fall back into a passive, reactive, defensive strategy on this. If we do not fight flooding in Crawford today, we will be fighting…

  • Action Movies–History of Advanced Fighting Techniques

    As far back as Blade Runner it was already well established that the fastest way to cross a room was by a sequence of rapidly repeated back flips. Bit it was only in the Matrix films we learned that bullets cannot harm you as long as you are engaged in tumbling exercises of any kind.

  • The Course

    “…the Americans, who have already expressed their frustration with the Sunnis, have recently become irritated with what they regard as the stubbornness of the Shiites as well.” NYT, 8/26/05 I can’t understand this criticism. Each of the three Iraqi factions is doing its utmost to emulate the American model. They are Staying the Course and…

  • Basketball Practice

    I know this isn’t really a usual topic for me, but one thing I find a little bit embarrassing for the professional NBA basketball players is that you can see them out there–just minutes before the game starts–and they’re practicing! I mean, isn’t it a little late for that? They should have thought of it…

  • We Shall Overcome

    Deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome someday. I sang it a hundred times. But, how sure was I really? How hard did I believe? And have we overcome? A lot of us on the left would answer, almost reflexively, “No!” Because there is no cause to be satisfied or complacent about…

  • The Invention of the Zero–Part II

    Before the invention of the zero, the DEA announced a policy of “Hardly Any Tolerance for Drugs.”

  • The Invention of the Zero

    Before the invention of the zero, even when something was free, you still had to pay a penny for it.