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Tuesday, February 04, 2003
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True Life Humour: A Rational Libertarian Goat. Thanks to Chris Tame for forwarding this; sounds like justice to me... - ed "Goat pushes man over the edge"... [Survival Arts]
Waheeb Hamoudah, a 56-year-old Egyptian tax evasion specialist for the local police department, was pushed to his death by a sheep as he was preparing for Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice. Hamoudah was keeping a sheep he was to sacrifice on the roof of his house, and while on a venture to feed the animal, the sheep head-butted him off the roof and onto the street below.
Clearly a case of self-defense. Unfortunately, the local Egyptian cops probably won't appreciate the sheep doing away with their professional looter.
10:11:53 PM 
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A possible way out. While I was at tea (or more accurately, pizza) after my earlier flurry of keystrokes, I received a call from Jim Bennett. Some of you know him from "Anglosphere". I known him from his AMROC and Starstruck launch company ventures. The pizza got cold but the ideas flowing back and forth over the phone line should have been enough to reheat it. First of all, Jim came up with one more question which needs to... [Samizdata.net]
Dale Amon suggests a way that the crew of the Columbia might have been saved. It would have required a huge amount of good luck, though.
7:28:54 PM
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Canada: Consultant says more money needed to make gun registry work. An independent consultant has recommended the federal government spend even more money to make the controversial gun control program work.
Raymond Hession's report, tabled in Parliament Monday, said more savings can be made in the $1-billion program, but it needs 'a one-time investment to fix key infrastructure and business processes,' the government said.
Hession and consultants KPMG were appointed to look into the program after the auditor general reported the cost was heading for $1 billion and the government had hidden cost increases. [FirearmNews.com]
Trying to fix a government program that's not working by giving it more money? What a novel concept. I wonder how much the Canadians paid the consultant to come up with that idea.
7:13:38 PM
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The price of gold is now over $380/ounce. That's an increase of $20 in just two weeks! Right now I'm very glad I haven't put any money in a savings account.
2:17:36 PM
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No One Asked Why He Wanted to Die. A troubled young man's downward spiral before committing suicide is chronicled in posts to an online message board whose participants give him suggestions about how to kill himself. Is the website responsible for his death? Part two in a series by Julia Scheeres. [Wired News]
This is a follow-up to yesterday's strange article. It seems that the author, for some reason, has decided to go off on a thinly-concealed crusade against a politically incorrect newsgroup. Why is she doing it? Some comments to my post on the previous article lead me to speculate that Doug Wiser (who's apparently the newsgroup's resident troll) may have put her up to it.
In this article the author included a lengthy quote from the aforementioned "troubled young man" at the end of the second page. I suspect the author was so absorbed in answering her own rhetorical question that she didn't realize she was raising another:
What right would anybody have to imprison this man for wanting to exercise control over his own life?
1:42:40 PM
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The Firmazo, the real story is democracy.
While even skeptics accept how impressive the ãFirmazoä (The Big sign up) was yesterday, Government officials either ignored it, like Chavez did yesterday, or attempted to minimize it as a former Foreign Minsiter of Foreign Relations did today. The Vice-President at least had the decency to recognize the event as a ãrespectableä democratic event, while casting doubts that the signatures could be used for anything, calling them ãnot auditableä. But the truth was that it was a massive display of democratic spirit, combined with the desire to have Hugo Chavez leave the Presidency that led, according to the organizers, to more than 4.7 million people to sign most of the ten petitions presented to them yesterday during the event. (In the 2000 Presidential election Hugo Chavez received 3.7 million votes, indicating a recall referendum would pass easily)
But it was there for everyone to see, even if the US press appeared to mostly ignore it. As local newspaper Tal Cual said today, the people came down from the barrios (cerros)·.to sign up·. and not loot, as it is commonly assumed. And they did it despite the social pressure not to attend or not to show that you are against the Government as well as the possible social stigma of abandoning the Chavista revolution. (In fact, many went far from home so as not ben seen). And it was not a matter of an audit or not, a petition is simply a list of signatures without any formal proof, so that the Vice-Presidentâs statement is simply one more cynical comment from someone that no one has much respect for anymore. Yesterday was a huge display of democratic spirit. The whole affair was privately organized. It was done only in populated centers, but somehow it became international too (see the Pictures section) and a legion of volunteers handled the logistics. There was no support from the Government, little security was provided to protect people from intimidation by chavista bands of thugs and the whole country participated. The numbers, as reported, were indeed impressive; 4.7 million signatures were obtained for the Constitutional Amendment as well the other petitions. This, despite the fact that only 3,600 of the usual 9,000 polling centers were opened. In fact, interest was so high, that many polling places turned back volunteers simply because they were not needed. While some violent incidents were reported, where Chavistas tried to block people from participating or simply attempted to rob signed petitions, the only serious casualty was a former Chavista activist that lost his eye. There was also some material damage to property, including the burning of a car owned by a TV station.
But perhaps nothing demonstrated the frustration of the Chavista leaders more than the failure of their own activities yesterday. On Thursday, some Chavista Deputies announced they would counter the Firmazo with a day of ãCitizens Assembliesä all over the country, where they would match the opposition by having assemblies near each polling center. In the end, very few of them took place and those that did, had fewer people than any single polling center of the opposition had during training on Saturday. That the chavistas are worried could be seen today as some members of Patria Para Todos were already talking about having the Supreme Court rule the petition for the amendment unconstitutional, even before it has been submitted to the Electoral Council. Their argument is that it is not an amendment but a reform of the Constitution, which requires a different procedure.
The Firmazo was simply, a huge success. It showed that the opposition is democratic, that it has the support that Government officials have always denied it had and that the Government will not survive any of the referenda proposed, when and if they are ever held. To the negotiation table and the world it sends a strong message that people in Venezuela are sick and tired of Hugo Chávez and his revolution. It is just unfortunate that the US press has chosen to focus on mostly irrelevant details (ãthe opposition is not united, they signed ten petitions!ä) or on Hugo Chavez declaration of victory over the opposition, while he is destroying the Venezuelan oil industry. But the truth was that those that brought Chavez to power are mostly no longer with him and that the display of democracy by Venezuelans on Sunday, was the real story to report, even if they simply missed it. [Miguel Octavio: Venezuela]
1:17:00 PM
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Pelletiere Pelted. Under fire from many sides, some of them hardly pro-Gulf War II hawks, Stephen Pelletiere (whose claims about the 1988... [Hit & Run]
Some interesting comments, which also address the claims that the US sold Iraq chemical weapons and condoned their use during the 1980s (often repeated by liberals). It looks like the claims are false.
12:51:05 PM
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You would rather not know. I have seen numerous questions which come down to "If NASA had taken the wing impacts on launch seriously, the astronauts could have been saved". Unfortunately this is not true. I'll work through the scenarios. Some have been covered reasonably well in the media; some not so well due to a lack of real understanding of orbital mechanics. Why didn't they have a docking collar? The Columbia is the heaviest of the shuttles because it... [Samizdata.net]
The best explanation I've seen of why there was nothing that could be done to save the shuttle.
12:40:06 PM
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Harry Browne -
The Incident - how FDR got America into World War II and how
GW is likely to do something similar to cement domestic support for
war on Iraq. [End the War on Freedom]
But I don't think George Bush wants reluctant support for a war against Iraq. He undoubtedly wants the kind of support he received after September 11. Anything less than that might not get him reelected next year.
He needs an incident. He needs a "smoking gun" provocation so he can "retaliate" against Iraq.
What Might Happen
It seems obvious that Saddam Hussein is determined not to provide such a provocation. Doing so would be tantamount to suicide. He can't win a war with America. He knows that such a war will not only depose him, but probably result in his execution by a to-the-victor-goes-the-spoils war-crimes tribunal.
Consequently, he has allowed inspectors into his country to search for weapons (what other government in the world has done so voluntarily?). He has submitted to UN resolutions. He has carefully avoided doing anything that would allow world opinion to be rallied in favor of an attack against him.
What does all this mean?
I can't predict the future, but I do know this:
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If an incident against America occurs -- a chemical attack in the U.S., a
building destroyed, American troops attacked somewhere -- the odds are 1,000 to 1 against the possibility that Saddam Hussein caused it, no matter what "evidence" is asserted or even presented publicly.
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If an incident occurs, it will be an answer to George Bush's daily prayers.
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If an incident occurs, we most likely won't know the truth behind it until years later -- long after the American people have lost interest in the subject, just as with the previous war-inspiring incidents.
I think this is probably true. It wouldn't surprise me if Osama bin Laden provided an incident, possibly using some nuclear or chemical weapons purchased from North Korea. It would be an ideal situation for him, since he could kill two birds with one stone by getting one of his enemies to attack another.
11:45:50 AM
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Outraged at Their Own Verdict. Jurors from Ed Rosenthal's marijuana trial are scheduled to condemn the outcome of the case at a press conference in... [Hit & Run]
said the jury was largely sympathetic to Mr. Rosenthal's predicament. But, Mr. Sackett said, jurors were left with "no legal wiggle room" because of the decision to exclude any discussion of Proposition 215 [California's medical marijuana initiative].
"It was one of the most difficult things we ever did as jurors," Mr. Sackett said of separating the state and federal aspects of the case. "We followed the letter of the law. We followed the court's instructions."
Further evidence that the government has been quite successful at suppressing knowledge of what a jury's powers actually are. In fact the jury would have been entirely without their rights to acquit because they considered the law unjust. That's the whole point of having juries.
10:09:02 AM
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Liberals Want Gun Control For You, Not Hussein. As you listen to all this talk about Saddam Hussein presenting 'no threat,' or not ever having done anything to America, ask yourself a question about his weapons. We have guys like Chuck Schumer, Teddy Kennedy - the whole rank and file Democratic Party - saying they can live with a guy like Saddam Hussein working on getting a nuclear arsenal and chemical weapons and anthrax. They want to 'go slow,' and leave him in place with the world's worst weapons - which we know he has and which the inspectors cannot verify he destroyed. [FirearmNews.com]
Of course the hypocrisy goes the other way as well. The "death to Iraq" crusaders mostly give at least lip service to the idea of sovereignty and the right to bear arms, but that hasn't stopped them from using Saddam's desire for "weapons of mass destruction" as one of their excuses for wanting to kill him.
9:24:09 AM
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Clear As Crystal. According to the House Minority Whip (some asshole from Maryland), the Democrats need a clear message for the electorate in the 2004 elections.
Ahem. What could be clearer than the following: - higher taxes
- more Nanny legislation
- more oppressive environmental legislation
- more "hate... [Kim du Toit]
But that's the truth! That will never do--what the Democrats need is to settle on what lie to tell the electorate.
6:31:42 AM
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© Copyright
2006
Ken Hagler.
Last update:
2/14/2006; 6:58:45 PM.
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