Imagine a country where the government decides what you can read or watch or listen to. Imagine a society that is so insular, so full of itself that it is sure that the only worthwhile ideas are its own. Iran? China? Saudi Arabia? Probably. Also the United States: Money and goods, though, flow more rapidly [...]
Archive for February, 2004
Remember bin Laden?
February 29, 2004
President Bush, having diverted resources from Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama bin Laden in favor of invading Iraq and capturing Saddam Hussein, has now decided to start looking for the real bad guys again. Remember: despite Bush’s scary rhetoric leading up to the invasion of Iraq, Iraq was never a partner of Al Quaeda, [...]
Courts stifle hateful conservatives
February 28, 2004
WaPo: California’s Supreme Court declined Friday to immediately halt same-sex marriages and nullify more than 3,400 licenses already issued, while the mayor of a town in New York state began marrying same-sex couples. In a suit filed in San Francisco, Attorney General Bill Lockyer petitioned the high court to order the city to stop defying [...]
Watch for e-voting fiascos on Tuesday
February 28, 2004
E-voting is fraught with problems. This Tuesday should be an interesting test, although if there are problems with teh count, we have no way to verify the problems, since there is no paper trail. Look for more vague denials and obfuscation from Diebold and other manufacturers after Tuesday. Millions of voters in 10 states will [...]
Bin Laden rumors are nothing new, but may be true
February 28, 2004
Lots of people believe that Bin Laden is on ice, just waiting for W to decide it is an opportune moment to unveil him. This report is intriguing, and similar reports have been coming out for weeks. It is strange that a man who requires daily dialyses treatments has supposedly been able to stay alive [...]
Bush’s recovery leaves ordinary Americans behind
February 27, 2004
The GDP is up. The GDP measures just about everything, so if money is spent destroying the environment and shipping jobs overseas, and if unemployed and discouraged workers spend lots of money on anti-depressant meds, for example, the GDP goes up. America’s economy, bolstered by brisk business spending, grew at a healthy 4.1 percent annual [...]
Bush administration leaves children’s limbs behind
February 27, 2004
Updated below: 2/27 – 5:30PM To be fair, Clinton didn’t do much about this problem either, but that’s no excuse for continued indifference. Despite worldwide pressure, the U.S. continues to develop new and deadly land mine technology, and continues to deploy old-fashioned land mines around the world. Land mines tend to kill and maim civilians, [...]
Tribune catches up, reports looming gas shortages
February 27, 2004
TBO.com (The Tampa Tribune online wing) confirms a USA Today report (posted on BlogWood yesterday) Snarled barge traffic on the Mississippi River is delaying some shipments of gasoline to the Port of Tampa and causing speculation that the price of gas locally could reach an all-time high. With less fuel moving through the port, some [...]
Experts say Florida gasoline shortages coming
February 26, 2004
Bush’s fossil fuel friendly energy policy: Motorists face gasoline shortages as well as record prices the next few weeks because of the skintight U.S. refining and distribution network. The vulnerability of that network, combined with low inventories of both gasoline and the crude oil from which it’s made, have the government and energy experts increasingly [...]
Clearly, Howard is a victim of the righteous right
February 26, 2004
This week, Clear Channel fired both Bubba and Howard Stern so that Clear Channel CEO John Hogan can tell Congress that he’s being a good boy and cleaning things up. Bubba and Howard share many traits, most of them not to my liking. I’m not a fan of either, and both are borderline indefensible. Actually, [...]