|
 |
Monday, August 18, 2003 |
US Fourth in World Terrorism Index. Don Van Natta Jr., New York Times- August 17, 2003 LONDON -- The United States is the fourth most likely of 186 countries to be the target of terrorism within the next 12 months, a research company based in London says in a report to be released Monday. World Markets Research Center ranks Colombia, Israel and Pakistan as the only countries with a greater terror risk than the United States in the report, called the World Terrorism Index. via Star Tribune By mfeldman_75@post.harvard.edu (Michael Feldman). [Dowbrigade News]
Damn! Can't we be first in anything anymore? Now were a Fourth World Nation. (LP)
10:49:52 PM 
|
|
My questions for Presidential candidates. [Scripting News]
OK - I'll have a go - - -
1. Should the United States have a health care system like the ones in European countries and Canada? NO!
2. What's your position on the death penalty? I volunteer to run them all through in the same day and save the American people millions in useless appeals. Everyone gets one appeal then throw the switch!
3. Abortion? Government should have absolutely nothing to do with it. Total free choice with no interference from a bunch of idiots who can't even balance a check book telling you how you should run your life.
4. Did Bush lie about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Does it matter? Was the war in Iraq a good idea? We have to start somewhere in the war against the religion that wants us all dead. I believe they fired the first shot. I want to live long enough to see them bombed into the stone age so time is of the essence.
6. If you were President, would you have settled with Microsoft for antitrust? I would never have allowed the government to waste time and the peoples money going after a company because they happen to be the most successful. The market place will always decide who succeeds and who doesn't. Punishing success is strictly a liberal thing so would have no place in my administration.
7. Why is it illegal to use or possess marijuana? It is?
8. How do you feel about music on the Internet? What, if anything, should the President do about it? Congress? The government should not have anything to do with it. If the courts decide it is illegal then so be it. Silly answer is to download every Britney Spears song (and all rap)on the net then destroy them all.
9. Do you have an email address? Do you read your own email? What should we do about spam? Yes. I make my dog read it. I have never received spam in my regular account because I never release it to the wild. I use spam dump addresses at Hotmail and Yahoo and clean them when I think of it.
10. If you have a weblog, do you write all the material yourself? If not, is this clearly explained on the site? How easy is it to find the disclaimer? Whats a weblog?
11. How do you plan to get us out of this Steinbeckian-Grapes-Of-Wrath economy? From Halley. We're back in the 30's. WOW! That was some good shit I was smokin. I was clear up to two thousand something.
12. What do you think about school vouchers? How can public education in the U.S. best be improved? From Ole Eichhorn. Do away with public education completely. Everyone would receive the same amount per child and spend it at the best private schools. The good schools would survive, the bad disappear, and in one generation we would be the best educated nation on the planet. Home schooling would be allowed and the voucher money could even be collected by the parents after passing rigorous testing in all subjects taught.
10:07:43 PM
|
|
The "Hate America" Degree. San Francisco's New College of California is planning to offer bachelor's and master's degrees in Hating America. Oops. Pardon me. I meant, “activism.” And courses will be taught by the leading luminaries of the loony left, including über-idiotarians “Starhawk” (who is a “witch”) and Julia “Butterfly” Hill (who is simply insane). (Hat tip: mommydoc.) [little green footballs]
9:20:34 PM
|
|
Department: The Sky is Falling!
Microsoft Thwarts Blaster Attack. The Internet still functions after Saturday midnight -- so far. The Blaster worm failed to bring down a Microsoft's site and network, and cause other mischief as planned. Microsoft says 'no problem,' but warns individual computers remain vulnerable if not patched. [Wired News]
8:20:10 PM
|
|
Ignorance. Another brilliant column from Ralph Peters, on the true challenge that faces the coalition in Iraq: [little green footballs]
If anything proves that we are not inherently rational beings, it's our hunger for bad news, for someone to blame, for believing evil of our neighbors. Rational beings would prefer to interpret events hopefully. Yet even Americans delight in hearing about a neighborhood scandal or believing that "something's going on" behind the scenes of the political stage (there is - a vast conspiracy of mediocrity).
Iraqi claims that we plan to convert them to Christianity or Judaism, that we scheme to corrupt their women or violate their holy shrines or simply that we intend to steal their oil, mirror the beliefs of our own ancestors that cities were stricken with plague because Jews poisoned the wells, that earthquakes meant the gods had indigestion or that Union soldiers would force the fair daughters of the Confederacy to marry liberated slaves.
We've come a long way, although our judgment remains far from perfect. Now we're asking Iraqis to make centuries of progress in a few years.
The Iraqis are frightened - not by our troops, but by change itself, by the collapse of the order they knew, no matter how vile its practices. Their world has been shattered and they truly do not know what we intend or what the future holds.
Turning on the electricity is a minor challenge compared to turning on the light of reason.
8:02:20 PM
|
|
The War is Over; The Jihad Isn't. Robert Spencer has a disturbing and revealing piece at FrontPage on the ultimate goal of the Islamic jihad: the reestablishment of the caliphate, and the dominance of Islam over the entire world. As Spencer points out, this is not just the dream of a few radicals relegated to the fringe of Islam; this is an essential goal at the very center of Sunni Islam, supported, advocated, and given doctrinal legitimacy by the highest Muslim authorities in the world.[little green footballs]
Bring it on! Lets get to it! Whats the holdup? (LP)
7:54:39 PM
|
|
Brooke for Governor. She's hot, she's smart and she's running for Governor. Plus, she seems conservative. Better than Big Government Arnold.... [Zogby Blog]
Sorry. She might be hot but shes been brainwashed on gun control. You can call yourself a conservative but in my book if you have one liberal thought then you are a liberal. If you have allowed yourself to be brainwashed by the libs once and failed to do your homework on the facts then you will allow yourself to be brainwashed on other issues later and slowly drift to the dark side. (LP)
7:41:53 PM
|
|
And Yet Another Reason to Hate The French.... I saw this post at Boycott Hollywood and just had to share this little gem. A French mayor has brought in a new law against smelly tourists. It allows police to stop people leaving the beach in swimwear for an odour check. Anyone found to be too smelly will be ordered to cover up or get a fine. Henri Dunoyer is the mayor of the posh resort town of La Grand-Motte in southern France. He says tourists stinking of sweat and suntan lotion put him off his food and wine as they pass... [Right We Are!]
7:08:53 PM
|
|
Department: The Sky is Falling
Mars Will Not Kill You! Some people are worried the close approach of Mars on Aug. 27 will cause doom on Earth. There is absolutely nothing to worry about.
How is it possible in this modern day world for some people to remain this ignorant? (LP)
Read More
3:12:51 PM
|
|
The American Dream?. Interesting comment on Lilli Marleen, a German blogger, regarding the American dream. Mr. Lilli had an interesting rant today, when he stated: "America would break into pieces in that moment all the poor or even just average people stop believing... [Zogby Blog]
They said Germanys the place you otta be so they loaded up the truck and they moved to ........? (LP)
12:21:38 PM
|
|
French government battles criticism for massive heatwave death toll. The French government rejected blame for an estimated 3,000 deaths that occurred during a record-breaking heatwave, faulting the abandonment of the mostly elderly victims rather than the state health system or lack of leadership. "Obviously, I own up to... [Zogby Blog]
Well what do you know? ...... The French aren't perfect! Who would of thunk it? (LP)
12:12:12 PM
|
|
Big Government Conservative. If you missed Fred Barnes's guest Ed in the WSJ last week, you're in luck. It is up on the Weekly Standard site: Big-Government Conservatism This is a trenchant address of the concerns of Andrew Sullivan and others about W's... [Zogby Blog]
11:53:54 AM
|
|
READER JAMES SMITH EMAILS FROM BAGHDAD regarding this AP story:
I'm now working in the public affairs office in Baghdad for the CPA. Got here three weeks ago. Fascinating experience. I thought I'd forward you a good example of reporting that starts with the premise that everything is the fault of the Coalition and ignores facts simply to prove that point. Here is a humble fisking of an AP story now on the wire, which I fear will become yet another myth unless you dispell it on your blog. Feel free to use any or all of my commentary below. I think you'd agree that flaw five is truly weird.
Click "More" for the rest. I suggested that the CPA start a blog of its own, allowing it to "Fisk" stories directly, but I thought I'd reproduce this email just as an example of how this sort of thing could work. Why not? (Instapundit.com)
MORE...
11:41:06 AM
|
|
Microsoft announced on Friday that an e-mail hoax is circulating. The subject line of the e-mail is "updated," and the message appears to contain a critical update to patch systems against the MSBlast worm. In reality, clicking on the attached file will infect the recipient's computer with a Trojan horse program. Antivirus company Sophos dubbed the new program Graybird. Microsoft warned consumers that the company never uses e-mail to distribute patches.
10:50:08 AM
|
|
Microsoft claims victory over Blaster worm (Financial Times)
Why were so many computers vulnerable if the fix (patch) has been on the street for almost one month? Why were all of these machines running with no firewall? Even the minimal firewall included with XP would stop this worm from entry. Its like leaving your house unlocked and erecting a giant billboard on the freeway that says "My address is----------, Please rob me while I'm away! (LP)
10:44:04 AM
|
|
SPINSANITY HAS TWO POSTS, here and here, about Bush critics playing "fast and loose" with the facts. Molly Ivins appears. That's no surprise -- Ivins' claim to accuracy is about as well-founded as her claim to humor. but so does Clinton arms-control official Peter Zimmermann, who gets busted for making false claims about what Bush said regarding Saddam's nuclear capabilities. Conclusion: "critics of the administration's truthfulness need to be just as honest with the public as they ask the president to be." [Instapundit.com]
8:31:05 AM
|
|
New Military Oaths. A friend who was in the USMC, sent these to me by email and I thought they were funny. To all of our service men and women out there - this is not meant to be offensive and I think you will get a kick out this. Oaths of Enlistment All persons, upon entering the Military Service and upon reenlistment are required to take the Oath of Enlistment. At one time the Oath of Enlistment was the same for all services. Due to changes in both society and the differing Military Branches, the Oath... [Right We Are!]
8:08:12 AM
|
|
JULY TIES FOR THIRD HOTTEST IN 124 NORTHERN HEMISPHERE YEARS!
I'm not impressed. My little experiment with North Dakota has
suggested to me that recorded surface temperatures just aren't very
reliable. My doubts are compounded by the paper "A Closer Look at
United States and Global Surface Temperature Change" by James Hansen
et al, avaiable on the GISS website.
What impresses me is that the global temperature of the lower
troposphere, as measured by the Univ of Alabama-Huntsville satellite
MSU, was -0.012 for June, relative to the 1979-98 average. For July it
was +0.080. Both readings are the lowest in nearly two years. The
supposedly unprecedented warming trend is coming apart.
Posted on alt.global-warming by Edward Brynes
7:53:00 AM
|
|
© Copyright 2003 John Gist.
|
|
|
