Saturday, May 25, 2002

Why are the Democrats such wimps? About a month ago, I read a great article in the Washington Monthly called, Why Can't the Democrats Get Tough?. It described all the ways that the Democrats are failing to oppose the policies of the Bush admistration -- are in fact rolling over and playing dead in front of the Republican onslaught. Here is a party that got more votes for its presidential canidate acting like Bush has some mandate from heaven. The article didn't really answer the question, and I suppose to some degree I don't care about the answer, except to figure out how to change it. What can we do to make the democrats stop being such wimps and for standing up for what we believe in? Comments welcome. Permalink  10:54:03 PM   Google It!  What do you think?  [] comments.

What was your first clue? Rare pygmy hippo living in SoCal back yard seized by state "I know he used the hippo manure on his garden," said Bill Ritcher. "It can smell pretty dang bad." Permalink  9:18:40 PM   Google It!  What do you think?  [] comments.

Frank Rich is right on, as usual "We are the richest, most can-do country in the world, but at home we're pursuing the war on terrorism with a management style that's pure Kmart. " A fierce and well written editorial, pointing out how poorly the acts of the Bush adminstration match the rhetoric, and how unprepared we are for the next terrorist strike. I think that he is right, but how can we get this adminstration to change its course? Permalink  1:09:28 AM     What do you think?  [] comments.

Thursday, May 23, 2002 Sailors Sprayed With Nerve Gas in Cold War Test, Pentagon Says Amazing NYT story about the Navy spraying sailors with nerve gas to see if protective gear works. Whenever I hear somebody tell me about stuff like this happening today, I think "they are too paranoid." But it keeps on being revealed that our goverment did a lot of stuff like this in the past, and denied it then ... Scary. posted by Tim Bishop 9:05 PM Wednesday, May 22, 2002 A truly hilarious parody on slashdot. I'm sure that it is all over the web by now, but I wanted to cast my 2 cents in. I think that the parody does a great job of poking fun at the awful rhetoric Bush, Ashcroft et al. have been massacring the English language with. posted by Tim Bishop 10:23 PM Monday, May 13, 2002 Amazing article re antidepressants: placebos work as well, cause changes in brain chemistry A new analysis has found that in the majority of trials conducted by drug companies in recent decades, sugar pills have done as well as -- or better than -- antidepressants. Companies have had to conduct numerous trials to get two that show a positive result, which is the Food and Drug Administration's minimum for approval. What's more, the sugar pills, or placebos, cause profound changes in the same areas of the brain affected by the medicines, according to research published last week. Complete article posted by Tim Bishop 2:44 PM But George Bush would never do something like that. Would he? "In the early 1960s, America's top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war against Cuba. Code named Operation Northwoods, the plans reportedly included the possible assassination of Cuban émigrés, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and even orchestrating violent terrorism in U.S. cities. The plans were developed as ways to trick the American public and the international community into supporting a war to oust Cuba's then new leader, communist Fidel Castro." Source: ABCNews story The article says the joint chiefs of staff approved of the plans and presented them to McNamara, who had the good sense to tell them to get lost. Amazing stuff. Makes you wonder. Back to job hunting, Tim posted by Tim Bishop 2:38 PM Saturday, May 11, 2002 TB Date 4/8/2002 Read Ants. I read it and thought of the fun that I had reading Compu-Dawn/GlobalPC/Myturn's SEC filings when they tried to recruit me "Purchased rights to Russian lottery from person who turned out not to have rights to Russian lottery ..." A "must read". As the author says, Think "Night of the Living High-Tech Company.'' TB date 3/31/2002 Flying Puck Caused Rare Brain Injury. quotes: "Since 1990, 29 spectators have been killed by cars or flying parts at auto races in the United States." "In 1970, a 14-year-old boy died after a line drive hit by Manny Mota of the Los Angeles Dodgers smashed into his temple." I guess watching at home is safer. Tim TB Date 3/31/2002 Industry news - Moxi to merge with Digeo Our old industry - Sic Transit Gloria Mundi Tim TB Date 3/28/2002 Study Finds Just an Hour of TV a Day Leads to Violence Reinforces my biases. Tim posted by Tim Bishop 9:36 PM Permalink  12:34:28 AM     What do you think?  [] comments.