02. January 2005 · Comments Off on Musharraf Retains Control · Categories: General, Politics, World

Those who follow the Byzantine Pakistani political scene will consider this a must-read. Those who don’t will likely find it confusing:

General Pervez Musharraf has finally pronounced on the uniform issue. His announcement that he has decided to keep both offices of army chief and president of Pakistan was long in the offing, especially after the Senate passed the two-offices bill on November 1, 2004 and its chairman, Mohammadmian Soomro, in his capacity as acting president, deemed it fit to sign the bill into law on December 1 last year.

General Musharraf says he has not violated the Constitution and is only following the decision of both houses of parliament reached through a democratic process of majority vote. There is no point in trying to look into this claim since all sides are aware of how he swung this ‘democratic’ vote and the degree of probity of this exercise. Let’s just consider that he is technically right on this count. Even so, it is important to see if he has good reasons for doing what he has done since he chose to speak directly to the people of Pakistan.

From the American perspective, this is likely a good thing. Musharraf has, thus far, shown himself to be one of the more enlightened despots of the Islamic world, as well as someone the US can deal with. He has also proven quite skilled at walking the tightrope of Pakistani power. And, while our administration agrees with me, the BBC reports “uniform dismay.” But as could be expected, they exagerate:

Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, member of the executive committee of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), said the president’s speech had reflected the aspirations and wishes of the nations. He added that the businessmen were with the president. “The president’s speech will not only promote peace but will improve the country’s image abroad,” he said.

Mr Sarhadi said at this critical time, the president should keep both offices with him. “The president’s claim that trade with Afghanistan will cross $1 billion and the economy will get a boost will have a positive affect on the stock market and will attract foreign investment also,” he added.

02. January 2005 · Comments Off on An Excellent Children’s Series · Categories: History, That's Entertainment!

I never tire of the story of the American Revolution, even when the telling is somewhat simplistic. So I again find myself watching DIC’s Liberty’s Kids. It began life on PBS, and has now made it’s way to commercial television.

Our nation’s birth is fictionalized through the exploits of two teenagers, an American boy, James, and English girl, Sarah, as well as a French preteen lad, Henri, who find themselves witness to some of the most notable events of the Revolutionary War, by virtue of their employment as reporters for Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette. I know it sounds a bit corny. But remember – this is a kid’s show.

Benjamin Franklin is voiced by Walter Cronkite, with a collection of stars, and other notable personalities, doing guest voices. The episodes are well paced, entertaining, as historically accurate as can be expected of the format, and should be good for any American kid in the late elementary to junior high school range. Some episodes can also be seen online at Yahooligans.

02. January 2005 · Comments Off on Stinginess Turnaround · Categories: General, Military

In an interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday today, the UN’s Jan Egeland, “Mr. Stingy”, after citing the logistics bottleneck in getting aid to the tsunami victims, said the US military was “worth it’s weight in gold.” And then he went on to praise the Navy for providing desalinization so promptly.

Hell Yeah! No nation, or combination of nations, in the world can match the airlift capibility, particularly the helicopters to go the “last mile”, of the United States. And, of course, our naval capability is unique in the world today. But all that doesn’t come cheap. A C-141 goes through fuel like it has holes in the tanks. And most governments couldn’t even afford to operate a Carrier Battle Group.

02. January 2005 · Comments Off on Professor Sues CIA for Vietnam PDBs · Categories: General

This from GWU’s National Security Archive:

Davis, CA, 23 December 2004 – University of California,
Davis professor Larry Berman today filed
suit against the CIA
under the Freedom of Information
Act, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California,
seeking release of historic President’s Daily Briefs given to
President Johnson during the Vietnam War.

Represented by the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine and by the
National Security Archive of George Washington University, Vietnam
expert Berman is challenging the CIA’s
"blanket policy"
of refusing to release
any PDBs, even historic or innocuous ones that risk no damage
to national security.

"The 9/11 Commission had to fight tooth and nail to get
excerpts from PDBs about the threat from bin Ladin," commented
Professor Berman, the author of three books on the Vietnam War.
"But ten PDBs
from the Johnson era
came out before the CIA imposed
its stonewall policy. Together, these releases prove that the
PDBs should be reviewed and declassified like any other records,
not set aside in a permanently closed vault."

I believe Prof. Berman will prevail. But is this lawsuit really necessary? Certainly, the CIA needs to maintain security. And a blanket ban prevents screw-ups. But a more liberal policy with respect to historical documents is in order.

01. January 2005 · Comments Off on Top Science Stories Of 2004 · Categories: Science!

Discover magazine has published their list of 100 Top Science Stories of 2004. Many of them I find quite exciting:

2. SpaceShipOne Opens Private Rocket Era
19. Two New Elements Discovered
36. New State of Matter Could Lead to Practical Superconductors
65. Black Holes Revealed As Forces of Creation
82. Astronomers Measure Cosmos Width: 156 Billion Light-Years
83. Atomic Clock Shrunk

Of course, their top one I don’t. Neither does Richard A. Galen:

Evidence of global warming became so overwhelming in 2004 that now the question is: What can we do about it?

* Deep in the article, Discover points out that Swiss researchers claim the summer of 2003 was “the hottest in Europe since 1500.”

* Wait. What? Since 1500? What was going on in 1500? Were oxen — the SUVs of the age — belching greenhouse gasses at an alarming rate? The Renaissance was in full bloom, but did Leonardo da Vinci code for global warming?

* Maybe there’s nothing we can — or need to — do. In the 42nd -biggest science story of the year, the Discover magazine editors, without any sense of irony, write that 620 million years ago, “the global Marinoan glaciation — a great environmental calamity … entombed the planet in ice for several million years.”

* A major shift in weather that apparently occurred without the interference of human — or almost any other type of — beings.

* The 77th-biggest scientific scoop of the year was that the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago caused a “nuclear winter” which allowed the land to begin warming after about five years but which kept deep ocean temperatures well below normal for “another two millennia.”

* If that is the case, then NASA’s recent announcement that an asteroid measuring a bit more than a quarter mile across might collide with the Earth on April 13, 2029, would repair whatever atmospheric damage the Mullmobile has been doing for the past five years.

* Last one: The 95th most important science story of 2004, according to Discover Mag, holds that 30,000 years ago, humans arrived in North America over a land bridge from Siberia which existed “before glaciers closed off the route at the height of the last ice age.”

* No global warming 30,000 years ago, no casinos on Indian reservations in 2004.

* See the pattern emerging here? Cold weather — bad. Warm weather — good.

* One of the few things former Vice President Al Gore and I agreed upon was whether or not there is global warming. We parted company in that I think global warming is a good thing. I don’t like cold weather. Most people don’t like cold weather.

* It’s why they made Florida.

01. January 2005 · Comments Off on Iraqi Quagmire: Contracting · Categories: Iraq

The Center for Corporate Responsibility has this list of it’s Top Ten War Profiteers of 2004:

At the beginning of the Iraq war, Andrew Natsios, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), proclaimed that the reconstruction of Iraq would look like a modern-day Marshall Plan. But a year and a half later, a combination of bureaucratic ineptitude, corporate corruption and the growing Iraqi resistance threaten to undermine the Bush administration’s grand designs.

In mid-July, U.S. officials admitted that fewer than 140 of the 2,300 reconstruction projects funded by the U.S. were underway. Although AID says “dirt has been turned” on 1,167 projects including schools and hospitals, with at least 70 new ones staring each week, it’s unlikely that the big picture has changed much. The kidnapping and execution of contract personnel and the ongoing sabotage of key projects — power plants, electricity lines and oil pipelines — has slowed work in many areas of the country to a crawl, jacking up the cost of security, insurance and other ancillary expenditures, which in most cases amount to half of the contractors’ budgets.

By August, Ambassador John Negroponte had to announce that more than $3 billion of $18 billion in U.S. aid earmarked by Congress for engineering and reconstruction work would be used for security and counterinsurgency operations.

The announcement was tacit recognition that a kind of vicious cycle is at work. The aggravation caused by the lack of electricity and other basic services is certain to be blamed on the CPA and the contractors, which could result in further support for the resistance. Exactly how much the resistance has gained from the festering resentments caused by the stalled reconstruction process is difficult to say. But an increase in attacks on construction sites – more than one a day according to the Army – indicates that they are a clear target of the resistance.

In late December, Contrack International, the lead partner on a $320 million transportation systems contract, announced that it was withdrawing from Iraq because of “prohibitive” security costs.

By the fall, news that just 7 percent of the $18 billion originally allocated for reconstruction set off fireworks in Congress. Senator Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, blasted the Bush administration as “incompetent” for failing to devote adequate on-the-ground personnel to contract administration, management, and oversight.

“It’s beyond pitiful, it’s beyond embarrassing, it’s now in the zone of dangerous,” added Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska.

For the most part, it looks like a pretty good report. But of course, they have to score one on the boogyman:

U.S. firms are not the only ones to complain about how difficult it has been to get in on the action. (Rep. James P. Moran Jr., D-Virginia, told to a Washington Post reporter that a company in his district was told by Pentagon officials that “if they want the money they really have to go though Halliburton.”) Even the administration’s closest Iraqi allies have been critical.

Let’s see: somebody at the Pentagon told Rep. Moran, who told a WaPo reporter, who told them – riiiiight.

01. January 2005 · Comments Off on Should US Govt Help Tsunami Victims? · Categories: General

David Holcberg at the Ayn Rand Institute has an opinion of the recent disaster that may shock some:

As the death toll mounts in the areas hit by Sunday’s tsunami in southern Asia, private organizations and individuals are scrambling to send out money and goods to help the victims. Such help may be entirely proper, especially considering that most of those affected by this tragedy are suffering through no fault of their own.

The United States government, however, should not give any money to help the tsunami victims. Why? Because the money is not the government’s to give.

Every cent the government spends comes from taxation. Every dollar the government hands out as foreign aid has to be extorted from an American taxpayer first. Year after year, for decades, the government has forced American taxpayers to provide foreign aid to every type of natural or man-made disaster on the face of the earth: from the Marshall Plan to reconstruct a war-ravaged Europe to the $15 billion recently promised to fight AIDS in Africa to the countless amounts spent to help the victims of earthquakes, fires and floods–from South America to Asia. Even the enemies of the United States were given money extorted from American taxpayers: from the billions given away by Clinton to help the starving North Koreans to the billions given away by Bush to help the blood-thirsty Palestinians under Arafat’s murderous regime.

The question no one asks about our politicians’ “generosity” towards the world’s needy is: By what right? By what right do they take our hard-earned money and give it away?

The reason politicians can get away with doling out money that they have no right to and that does not belong to them is that they have the morality of altruism on their side. According to altruism–the morality that most Americans accept and that politicians exploit for all it’s worth–those who have more have the moral obligation to help those who have less. This is why Americans–the wealthiest people on earth–are expected to sacrifice (voluntarily or by force) the wealth they have earned to provide for the needs of those who did not earn it. It is Americans’ acceptance of altruism that renders them morally impotent to protest against the confiscation and distribution of their wealth. It is past time to question–and to reject–such a vicious morality that demands that we sacrifice our values instead of holding on to them.

Next time a politician gives away money taken from you to show what a good, compassionate altruist he is, ask yourself: By what right?

He’s right to a point. Here in the US, we have a tradition of private giving which outstrips other nations of the world. Further, you can be sure that any money directed through government channels will experience a high degree of waste, and likely some substantial corruption.

On the other hand, the maintenance of infrastructure is a classic, if arguable, function of government. $350 million dollars is really a trifle, relative to either the size of the US economy, or the size of the need in the effected area. Further, the militaries of the world, specifically the US military, is in a unique position to provide desperately needed assistance. There simply exists no faster way to get things like helicopters and desalinization equipment to the area.

01. January 2005 · Comments Off on Comments And Spam · Categories: Site News

We seem to be experiencing a massive spam attack. I have temporarally shut off comments.

Update: it seems to have ended, comments back on.

01. January 2005 · Comments Off on Guess I Have To Complete My Set · Categories: That's Entertainment!

Rachel Lucas reviews ROTK DVD (note her new URL):

There’s the Mouth of Sauron, for one thing. HOLY. SHIT. That thing utterly freaks me out. I finally found the part in the extras that shows how they did that – how they made his mouth look so huge and all cracked – and it doesn’t help me freak out any less. That thing is crazy bad. And the voice of it, while sounding just a wee bit Transylvanian, is really creepy.

Good grief, is it creepy. “Who would have thought one so small could endure so much pain? And he deeeed, Gandalf, he deeeeeed. Ahhhh.” Jesus!

Plus, it was pretty cool the way Aragorn rode up beside him all casual-like and then chopped his fuckin’ head off.

01. January 2005 · Comments Off on Operation Give, FedEx And You · Categories: General

If you don’t care to give cash (or even if you do), Chief Wiggles invites you to help him fill a FedEx plane for the tsunami victims.

31. December 2004 · Comments Off on So How Bad Is This Disaster? · Categories: General

Relatively, not that bad, according to the Disaster Center:

Country  Year  Day  Month  Disaster  Region  Continent  Killed 
NA  1917  Epidemic  NA  ALL  20,000,000 
Soviet Union  1932  Famine  Russia.Fed  Europe  5,000,000 
China, P Rep  1931  July  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  3,700,000 
China, P Rep  1928  Drought  E.Asia  Asia  3,000,000 
NA  1914  July  Epidemic  Rest.Europ  Europe  3,000,000 
Soviet Union  1917  Epidemic  Russia.Fed  Europe  2,500,000 
China, P Rep  1959  July  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  2,000,000 
India  1920  Epidemic  S.Asia  Asia  2,000,000 
Bangladesh  1943  Famine  S.Asia  Asia  1,900,000 
10  China, P Rep  1909  Epidemic  E.Asia  Asia  1,500,000 
11  India  1942  Drought  S.Asia  Asia  1,500,000 
12  India  1907  Epidemic  S.Asia  Asia  1,300,000 
13  India  1900  Drought  S.Asia  Asia  1,250,000 
14  NA  1957  May  Epidemic  NA  ALL  1,250,000 
15  Soviet Union  1921  Drought  Russia.Fed  Europe  1,200,000 
16  NA  1968  Epidemic  NA  ALL  700,000 
17  Ethiopia  1972  Famine  E.Africa  Africa  600,000 
18  China, P Rep  1920  Drought  E.Asia  Asia  500,000 
19  China, P Rep  1938  July  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  500,000 
20  China, P Rep  1939  July  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  500,000 
21  India  1920  Epidemic  S.Asia  Asia  500,000 
22  India  1965  Drought  S.Asia  Asia  500,000 
23  India  1966  Drought  S.Asia  Asia  500,000 
24  India  1967  Drought  S.Asia  Asia  500,000 
25  India  1926  Epidemic  S.Asia  Asia  423,000 
26  Bangladesh  1918  Epidemic  S.Asia  Asia  393,000 
27  Bangladesh  1970  12  November  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  300,000 
28  Ethiopia  1984  14  October  Drought  E.Africa  Africa  300,000 
29  India  1924  Epidemic  S.Asia  Asia  300,000 
30  China, P Rep  1976  27  July  Earthquake  E.Asia  Asia  242,000 
31  China, P Rep  1927  22  May  Earthquake  E.Asia  Asia  200,000 
32  Ethiopia  1974  April  Drought  E.Africa  Africa  200,000 
33  Uganda  1901  Epidemic  E.Africa  Africa  200,000 
34  China, P Rep  1920  16  December  Earthquake  E.Asia  Asia  180,000 
35  Sudan  1984  Drought  N.Africa  Africa  150,000 
36  Japan  1923  September  Earthquake  E.Asia  Asia  143,000 
37  China, P Rep  1935  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  142,000 
38  Bangladesh  1991  30  April  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  138,866 
39  Soviet Union  1948  October  Earthquake  Russia.Fed  Europe  110,000 
40  China, P Rep  1908  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  100,000 
41  China, P Rep  1911  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  100,000 
42  China, P Rep  1922  27  July  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  E.Asia  Asia  100,000 
43  Ethiopia  1973  Drought  E.Africa  Africa  100,000 
44  Mozambique  1985  Drought  E.Africa  Africa  100,000 
45  Niger  1923  Epidemic  W.Africa  Africa  100,000 
46  Italy  1908  28  December  Earthquake  Euro.Union  Europe  75,000 
47  China, P Rep  1932  26  December  Earthquake  E.Asia  Asia  70,000 
48  Peru  1970  31  May  Earthquake  S.America  Americas  66,794 
49  NA  1972  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  62,500 
50  NA  1973  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  62,500 
51  NA  1974  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  62,500 
52  Bangladesh  1942  October  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  61,000 
53  China, P Rep  1910  Epidemic  E.Asia  Asia  60,000 
54  India  1935  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  60,000 
55  Pakistan  1935  31  May  Earthquake  S.Asia  Asia  60,000 
56  China, P Rep  1949  July  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  57,000 
57  India  1935  31  May  Earthquake  S.Asia  Asia  56,000 
58  Canada  1918  January  Epidemic  N.America  Americas  50,000 
59  China, P Rep  1912  August  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  E.Asia  Asia  50,000 
60  Guatemala  1949  October  Flood  C.America  Americas  40,000 
61  India  1942  14  October  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  40,000 
62  Martinique  1902  May  Volcano  Caribbean  Americas  40,000 
63  Bangladesh  1965  11  May  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  36,000 
64  Iran, Islam Rep  1990  20  June  Earthquake  S.Asia  Asia  36,000 
65  NA  1943  Drought  E.Africa  Africa  35,000 
66  Turkey  1939  December  Earthquake  W.Asia  Asia  32,962 
67  Cape Verde Is  1946  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  30,000 
68  Chile  1939  24  January  Earthquake  S.America  Americas  30,000 
69  China, P Rep  1954  August  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  30,000 
70  Italy  1915  13  January  Earthquake  Euro.Union  Europe  30,000 
71  Bangladesh  1974  July  Flood  S.Asia  Asia  28,700 
72  Niger  1931  Famine  W.Africa  Africa  26,000 
73  Soviet Union  1988  December  Earthquake  Russia.Fed  Europe  25,000 
74  Cape Verde Is  1920  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  24,000 
75  Guatemala  1976  February  Earthquake  C.America  Americas  23,000 
76  Iran, Islam Rep  1939  January  Earthquake  S.Asia  Asia  23,000 
77  Colombia  1985  13  November  Volcano  S.America  Americas  21,800 
78  Niger  1910  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  21,250 
79  Niger  1911  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  21,250 
80  Niger  1912  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  21,250 
81  Niger  1913  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  21,250 
82  China, P Rep  1974  May  Earthquake  E.Asia  Asia  20,000 
83  India  1905  April  Earthquake  S.Asia  Asia  20,000 
84  Iran, Islam Rep  1978  16  September  Earthquake  S.Asia  Asia  20,000 
85  Somalia  1974  Drought  E.Africa  Africa  19,000 
86  China, P Rep  1933  Flood  E.Asia  Asia  18,000 
87  China, P Rep  1930  10  February  Storm  E.Asia  Asia  15,000 
88  Indonesia  1917  21  January  Earthquake  SE.Asia  Asia  15,000 
89  India  1977  12  November  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  14,204 
90  Bangladesh  1965  June  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  12,047 
91  China, P Rep  1907  21  October  Earthquake  E.Asia  Asia  12,000 
92  Iran, Islam Rep  1962  September  Earthquake  S.Asia  Asia  12,000 
93  Morocco  1960  29  February  Earthquake  N.Africa  Africa  12,000 
94  Soviet Union  1907  21  October  Earthquake  Russia.Fed  Europe  12,000 
95  Soviet Union  1949  Landslide  Russia.Fed  Europe  12,000 
96  Bangladesh  1963  28  May  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  11,500 
97  Bangladesh  1961  May  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  S.Asia  Asia  11,000 
98  Cape Verde Is  1900  Drought  W.Africa  Africa  11,000 
99  Hong Kong (China)  1937  28  August  Cycl.Hurr.Typh  E.Asia  Asia  11,000 
100  Nigeria  1991  January  Epidemic  W.Africa  Africa  10,391 



Of course, it is highly debatable how “natural” the famines in the Soviet Union, Bangladesh and Ethiopa were.

31. December 2004 · Comments Off on A Most Gruesome Task · Categories: General

Steve Park supplies this first-hand account of the rescue/cleanup work after the tsunamis on Phuket:

We stopped at a hastily arranged rescue center along the side of the road. Across the road were hundreds of bodies lined up, most left in the sun because all the trees are gone and they only had one awning to erect to provide a little shade. The sight and stench were horrible.

We put big gobs of Vicks VapoRub up our nostrils and started helping bag the bodies. But the pick-up trucks kept coming, bringing more bodies faster than we could wrap them in plastic and bed sheets (there were no proper body bags).

Later in the morning, some Thai rescue teams arrived and took over our work. By early afternoon, more awnings arrived and some body bags arrived. We then walked back towards the hills, behind the large naval boat that was washed over a kilometer from the beach.

We found several bodies in the debris back on the hill. Later, walking back towards the beach, the smell of decaying bodies buried under the rubble was everywhere. But there is so much debris, that heavy equipment will be needed to remove it. One rescue team from Taiwan was digging through rubble by hand and recovered one body. At one point, people started screaming and yelling, “the water is coming.”

The death toll now stands at over 150,000.

31. December 2004 · Comments Off on Artie Shaw Dead. · Categories: General

Big Band leader Artie Shaw has past away at 94. While I’m confident far fewer people will be as affected by his passing as that of Reggie White, It is highly arguable which of the two had more impact on the world in which we live.

If you are unfamiliar with his entrancing clarinet work, and brilliant arrangements, you’ll get a chance to hear his Nightmare on the movie The Aviator. Who knows, perhaps you’ll go on to other Shaw classics, or even move beyond, to the likes of Rich, Carmichael, Coltrane, or Paul? What a wonderful thing that would be.

31. December 2004 · Comments Off on The Hallelujah Kids · Categories: General

I am currently watching The Hallelujah Kids on the Discovery-Times Screening Room. It concerns a father and his 19 year-old son, both evangelical ministers, and a 10 year-old son, who is about to become ordained. Personally, I have serious reservations about the idea of a 10 year-old proselytizing.

The father talks of a 10 year-old in the neighborhood of the brick-and-mortar church they are settling in to; he shot his father dead. I would also have a problem in trying that boy as an adult. The father claims that, if the Devil can occupy the soul of that child, why can’t God occupy the soul of his. The whole idea violates the concept of the innocence of childhood.

29. December 2004 · Comments Off on Should I Stay Or Should I Go · Categories: General

While one of my local PBS stations is airing a Globe Trekker episode, 😛 the others are showing; 1) Great Performances, featuring Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Robert Cray, B.B. King, Vince Gil, and others. 2) Nova – Fireworks. 3) And Nova – Great Escape. I’ve chosen the latter. I hope the rest replay soon.

29. December 2004 · Comments Off on And Though The Holes Were Rather Small… · Categories: General

The current death toll from Indian Ocean tsunamis is estimated above 100,000. As usual, the United States leads the world international aid.. But, as we have seen, our reputation is on the ropes. Further, few economies in the civilized world, outside of Australia (riding China’s coattails) and the emerging economies of Asia and eastern Europe, match ours. It is especially important for we Americans to give generously to the private relief NGO’s operating in the effected region.

29. December 2004 · Comments Off on Long Live Abbas · Categories: Iran, Iraq, Israel & Palestine, Politics

The more I hear of presumptive Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the more I like him. He rails against The Wall, but supports the Two-State Solution. He reveres Arafat (as any viable Palestinian politician must), but steps away from his policies.

This, coupled with the recent warming of relations between Israel and Jordan, the past ten year’s rejection of theocracy in Iran, and our own overturn of Saddam in Iraq, leaves me very hopeful for the future of peace in the Mideast.

29. December 2004 · Comments Off on Someone Up There Is Smirking At Me · Categories: General Nonsense

Almost immediately following my tease of Sgt. Mom last week, comparing the weather of south Texas and SoCal, a series of storms, with rain for the foreseeable future, rolled in. Further, the rain we are currently having is very Texas-like, with hard driving cloudbursts in the presence of bright sunshine. 🙂

But, they say “it never rains on the Rose Parade.” True to form, the chance of rain for Saturday drops to 20%, going up afterward.

28. December 2004 · Comments Off on A Favorite Quote · Categories: General

“Not only does God play dice, sometimes he throws them where they cannot be seen.” — Steven Hawking.

28. December 2004 · Comments Off on Yanukovych Takes One From The Al Gore Playbook · Categories: Politics

Unable to win at the polls, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych intends to try and win in court.

28. December 2004 · Comments Off on Military Times Poll · Categories: Military

The results of the annual Military Times Poll are in. The results, with respect to both morale, and support for President Bush, are quite good. This is not a scientific poll, of course. But I think we will all be agreed here that this is pretty representative of the general attitude of the troops. Here’s a summary from USA Today:

Sixty-three percent of respondents approve of the way President Bush is handling the war, and 60% remain convinced it is a war worth fighting. Support for the war is even greater among those who have served longest in the combat zone: Two-thirds of combat vets say the war is worth fighting.

But the men and women in uniform are under no illusions about how long they will be fighting in Iraq; nearly half say they expect to be there more than five years.

In addition, 87%% say they’re satisfied with their jobs and, if given the choice today, only 25% say they’d leave the service.

Compared with last year, the percentages for support for the war and job satisfaction remain essentially unchanged.

A year ago, 77% said they thought the military was stretched too thin to be effective. This year, that number shrank to 66%.

Of course, there are some leftist propagandists out there who would like to use this poll’s lack of scientific validity to convince their readers that the morale of our troops is lagging.

28. December 2004 · Comments Off on More Babes With Power Tools · Categories: General, That's Entertainment!

It seems that Discovery Channel has discovered their makeover shows will fare better with guys if they have some really attractive women on the construction crews. Check out their new shows, Garage Takeover and Dude Room (no web pages available yet).

But I want to know, where are they finding all these ladies? I might just move there. 🙂

27. December 2004 · Comments Off on Insured Losses From Quake May Be Less Than $5 Billion · Categories: General

This just in from Bloomberg:

“The reason it’s so low is there’s not much insured,” said Robert Hartwig, an economist with the Insurance Information Institute in New York. “A wave like this coming ashore in Florida would have produced economic losses dwarfing those of the hurricanes — tens and tens of billions of dollars.”

Yesterday’s magnitude 9.0 quake and the ensuing tidal waves killed at least 19,000 people, mainly in areas with little insured property. Hurricanes in the U.S. this caused at least $27 billion in insured damages. Most of the quake claims will be borne by European and Asian insurers, Hartwig said.

I could have told you this when this tragedy first struck. The resorts and millionaire retreats will all be insured, and if their coverage falls short, just as with disasters here in the US, they will be the ones most skillful at glomming on to relief funds. The poorest people, who in this part of the world are unlikely to have their property ownership document, and much less likely, insured. will be the ones who suffer the most.

All efforts should be made to assure that relief goes first to those in the greatest need.

26. December 2004 · Comments Off on Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Commas · Categories: General

Currently, I have been reviewing my use of commas. As my personal style tends more to the literary or scholarly, rather than journalistic, I tend to use a lot of commas. Well, Miles Maguire, formerly of the Washington Times, and now at UW Oshkosh, hosts a site called The Comma Project.

26. December 2004 · Comments Off on We’ve Lost A Good Man · Categories: General

All-Star defensive end and Baptist minister Reggie White has died at 43 of a massive heart attack. I will have to fact-check myself on this, but it seems to me White had a history of heart problems related to steroid use.

Glenn Reynolds has yet to blog on this. But I expect him to have much to say about the former Vol.

Update: As yet, I can’t find anything about steroids or heart problems with relation to White. If any of you have any leads, please pass them on.

Update 2: Well, it seems that Glenn was more brief than I predicted. I’d like to add, in reference to my tentative assertion concerning White and steroids: This was not an attempt to demonize a man who, in most aspects of his life, was an admirable personality, and a fine role model. Further, I have no agenda of general prohibition of adult steroid use. Although I do believe that, in this day and age, it is incredibly stupid. However, when White made his rise to stardom, we didn’t know nearly as much about their adverse effects as we do today.

Update 3: Reader Ronnie reports that the cause of death is now believed to be respiratory arrest due to sleep apnea (something I live in fear of). My other sources tell me the medical examiners are still unsure.

Updatee 4: Here’s something from CNN on White’s health problems:

White revealed Wednesday that his health problems last year were more serious than people were led to believe.

Not only did White endure a displaced disc in his lower back — which led to his brief retirement in April — and a case of pneumonia, but he said he also suffered from low white blood cell counts and contracted a rare lung disease called sarcoidosis.

And still he had 11 sacks and earned his record 12th consecutive Pro Bowl berth in 1997.

“The one thing I didn’t do about any of it last year is complain,” White said. “So, it’s good to feel well.”

Doctors don’t know what causes sarcoidosis, which affected White’s breathing and stamina. The illness can cause accumulation of inflammatory cells, called granulomas, nearly everywhere in the body. Though not curable, it can be treated with drugs. About half the people who come down with it eventually recover fully or have only minor lasting effects.

It usually affects young, healthy people between the ages of 20 and 50. Between 40 and 60 people out of every 100,000 contract the disease, and it generally is more severe among blacks.

“I had lumps on my lungs that were causing me to get tired,” said White, whose weight dipped from 305 to 290 when he contracted pneumonia.

White said recent X-rays showed the lumps are gone.

“I’ve been blessed,” he said.

That report was from way back in 1998. This goes to illustrate the difficulty in turning faded memories into reportable facts, and at the same time, monitoring yourself, so as not to fall into idle conjecture. It’s that much harder when no-one is paying you to burn shoe leather. Those of us with day jobs, and no trust fund, must rely upon our networks to flesh-out a story.

If anyone has further information, please feel free to post it, or email me.

Update 5: It seems that steroids are the prefered treatment for scarcoidosis. And, as for just how well known the side effects of steroids are:

AS also affect the cardiovascular system and the serum lipid profile. Relatively few studies have been done to investigate the effect of anabolic steroids on the cardiovascular system. No longitudinal studies have been conducted on the effect of anabolic steroids on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

At this point, although White’s documented problems were not not with his heart, but other thorasic organs, and any steroid use was in treatment, rather than cause of, I hold that my initial statement, couched as I made it, was not without merit. An autopsy is scheduled. When the results are known, some further work might be in order. As for tonight, I believe we can put this story to bed.

Update 6: It appears that the preliminary autopsy results agree with where I left this last night: a heart attack as complication from respiratory problems. But we may not know the whole story for months.

26. December 2004 · Comments Off on Devastation In The Bay Of Bengal · Categories: General

An 8.9 earthquake has struck off the NW coast of Sumatra. Tsunamis have killed over 6000 and counting in nations surrounding the Bay of Bengal. Developing.

Update: This report I’ve just received says our base on Diego Garcia came out “unscathed”. No word on how the Brits fared. The Intenational Red Cross is putting the current death toll at over 23,000, with “tens of thousands” more still unaccounted for.

25. December 2004 · Comments Off on The Hookie Awards: Some Light Holiday Reading · Categories: General, Politics

I’m just checking out David Brooks’ favorite political essays for 2004. Good stuff.

Hat Tip: Instapundit