Knee Deep in Mud

2004-09-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

Fuck the U.N., cont'd...

David Brooks pretty much sums up the pointlessness of the U.N. over at the New York Times.

2004-08-31T21:42:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm just easily entertained but...

Defamer had me laughing out loud at Paris Hilton, Christina Aguilera, and Carson Daly.

2004-08-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

RNC in NYC

It's all I can do anymore to give 2 shits about conservatives. Typically, I can't even bring myself to attack them for anything having given them up for lost causes long ago. But at least with the start of the RNC in New York I get to have a few laughs. [in particular, see the Village Voice blog written by the cocktail waitress at a strip club]

2004-08-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

Because....

who doesn't need one of these?

hat tip gizmodo.

2004-08-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

"No more lies from Dick and Georgie, we deplore their wartime orgy."

One of the better slogans from today's protests in New York.

2004-08-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

Whaaaa??

Paul Krugman is, like, talking about economics?

I don't believe it.

And he's actually *making sense?

There must be some mistake.

OH! He wrote this in 1997!

*This is actually quite a good article, it's too bad for the world's poor that he gave up economics for Bush-bashing. It's hard to believe that Paul Krugman actually wrote these words.

2004-07-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

Al Sharpton and the DNC

I'm glad others are saying and thinking these things too.

2004-07-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Michael Moore is a big fat stupid fucking white man

He just keeps getting more and more idiotic as the days go by.

----

Canadian Bacon auteur Michael Moore has written an open letter to the casino owner who bounced Linda Ronstadt for walking to the beat of a different, anti-Bush drum this past weekend:

"What country do you live in? Last time I checked, Las Vegas is still in the United States. And in the United States, we have something called "The First Amendment." This constitutional right gives everyone here the right to say whatever they want to say."

Without even getting into the obvious (if annoying) rejoinder that your right to free speech ends at my property line, let's appreciate a different irony: Moore's willingness to pre-emptively sue for libel, which he seems to equate with criticism of himself.

----

The man's ignorance on pretty much every topic he speaks about is staggering.

I'm neglecting my deadline, I better get going.

2004-07-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

Tyler Cowen

rocks.

----

It's late in the game to be blogging this, but I've just seen Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9-11. I was dragged to the movie, more or less against my will. I won't review the film's well-known problems with the facts. I was at least as disturbed by the implicit racism. For instance it portrayed the Saudis as vile connivers, in a manner reminiscent of 19th century racial propaganda. [N.B. I agree we should trust the Saudi government less, but this is not the point.] Even worse was the segment on the "Coalition of the Willing"; Costa Ricans for instance are shown as a primitive and laughable people who work with oxen.

Most of all the film shows an overall contempt for humanity. The American poor, supposedly the object of Moore's concern, come across as stupid, inarticulate, and easily duped. The only idyllic paradise we ever see is Saddam Hussein's Iraq, where all appears beautiful.

It is a sad day in Cannes and in the United States when a movie of this kind commands so much attention. There are many important and intelligent critiques of the foreign policy of the Bush Administration, but this is not one of them. On top of everything else, the film was outright boring, especially during the second half.

----

2004-07-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Heroes

It's been a good week in Knee Deep's world. First, my hardback copy of Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man arrived in the mail. Which I read in record time.

And while reading the book I learned more about and was given the website for the up coming documentary called Michael Moore Hate America.

I nearly wept.

Anyone that still believes a word that comes out of any of that man's orifices needs to first check into a psych ward, then read this book, then watch this film.

I'm obviously an avid Moore basher and have read about many of the falsehoods people have discovered about Moore's statements and claims but I was still floored at times at how blatant his deceptions are and how far he will go to decieve his audience. It is truly disgusting.

2004-06-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

Fuck Hillary Clinton

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the minute someone claims to be doing something in the "public interest" or "common good," don't trust a another thing they say. All they want to do is tell you how to live your life.

We don't vote for government officials because we need them to tell us how to live. It's time they begin to understand that.

2004-06-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

Downer

I've had almost no time in front of a computer that doesn't have a drawing of a building on it for the last 2 weeks so most emails and websites I frequent have been quite lonely or completely ignored. For whatever reason I did just read an email update from freemarket.net Director of Operations Sunni Maravillosa.

And now I want to go lie down in my bed and burst into tears at how hopeless it all seems.

An excerpt:

----

Speechless
------------------------------------------------------------
Amazingly, it's happened to me

I guess the fact that you're reading this doesn't mean that I'm
completely speechless, but for this entire month I have been unable
to muster my usual enthusiasm for my work, and for my nonpaying
passion, which is writing about freedom. I've felt it building for
some time, yet was unable to identify its source. June 21 provided
an unambiguous jolt that I'm still trying to overcome.

No, I've nothing against the start of summer (although that happens
on June 20 now). June 21, 2004 is the date the U.S. Supreme Court put
the nail in the coffin of the Bill of Rights. For all practical
purposes, we can declare them dead -- and, similarly to what happened
to Tom Paine, the death seems to have been largely unnoticed.

The First Amendment has been dead for years, as governments at all
levels have stifled free speech of commercial, religious, sexual, and
political sorts when it's suited them. While I've not learned of any
laws passed respecting the establishment of any religion, the Ten
Commandments court battles, pledge of allegiance lawsuits, and any
number of other legal activities have shown that many in this country
are very motivated to create or reinforce legal precedents that
encourage certain types of religious expression, often at the expense
of others.

While the most good news, Constitution-wise, may stem from recent
progress against Second Amendment foes, the fact that an individual's
unalienable right to keep and bear arms has been soundly trampled
by jurisdictions from the Supreme Court down and legislators at
many levels shows that it's dead, too. Has been since 1934, in
case anyone's keeping score.

Many individuals discount the Third Amendment as archaic and
irrelevant to today's American society. I beg to differ; and I view
it as long dead, as well. Who needs physical soldiers quartered in
one's home when the Patriot Act allows the ever-seeking eye of the
state to peer into one's life increasingly easily, particularly by
monitoring an individual's web and email activity? We don't bear
the physical costs of soldiers among us; instead we bear the
thousands of tiny cuts of taxes, fees, and limitations on our
freedoms that becoming a Database Nation, as some like to call it,
has brought us.

Amendment Four, prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure, has also
been gutted. At the national level (some pockets of resistance have
been reported in some states, as readers of our Freedom News Daily
newsletter know) there's apparently no such thing as an unreasonable
search. I remember getting a very queasy feeling about this when the
Supremes okayed random traffic stops -- way back in the 70s or 80s,
that was.

The Hiibel case is the one that killed the Fifth Amendment, which had
been struggling on life support for a while. I really can't say any
more about this one, except to point you to a very compelling essay
by Mr. Hiibel himself:

http://www.free-market.net/rd/429204362.html

He says it much better than I could.

The right to a speedy and impartial trial has been nibbled away, as
"voir dire" -- French for "jury stacking", as my friend Vin
Suprynowicz says -- has made an impartial jury impossible. And in a
case of great personal importance to me, the prosecuting attorney
said, apparently with a straight face, that the speedy trial
guarantee wasn't at issue because the defendant had been released
on bond. If you'd like proof, read the news story yourself
(the "speedy trial" sentence is near the end of the story):

http://www.free-market.net/rd/797829035.html

The Seventh Amendment -- guaranteeing a right to trial at common law
for any case involving a sum over twenty dollars -- is another murky
one. But no matter, it's dead anyway. Wasn't Laura Kriho denied a
jury trial? And isn't it the case that once a lawsuit becomes
certified as a class-action suit, all similar suits become part of
it whether the plaintiff desires it or not?

No excessive bail, fines, or cruel and unusual punishment? Is it
cruel for the courts to order public humiliation, as is now becoming
fashionable in some states? If not, how about ordering a couple not
to have more children until they can prove they can care for the ones
they already have? (What about the state meeting such criteria for
the thousands of children they take away from families each year?)

http://www.free-market.net/rd/609304909.html

The Ninth Amendment is a real laugher these days. So few individuals
understand what rights really are that we now live under regulations
like the Americans with Disabilities Act. Whether it began with
good intentions or not, the results are clear: it's become a
politically-correct means of nannying individuals and organizations,
in the name of "rights". Almost makes me wish a right to be left
alone had been one of the ten ...

And last, the Tenth Amendment, reserving rights not enumerated by
the Constitution to the states or the people. How quaint! So, when
will California, Colorado, and Oregon medical marijuana patients
stop being harassed by the DEA? In fact, when will the war on
all drugs (including those approved by the state but sometimes
taken in larger quantities and/or shorter intervals than the state
approves of by we the serfs) end? I dare not think how long this
amendment has been spat upon -- it's easily a century.

Lest anyone think I've gone all patriot or Constitutionalist, I can
assure you I haven't. I don't think I've ever expected some words on
a piece of paper, irrespective of how lofty they are, to protect me
or "give" me anything -- especially not liberty.

But others do. And that cuts to the core of why the Hiibel case has
affected me so strongly. I haven't seen any mainstream (that is,
nonlibertarian) coverage of the thorough destruction of the Bill of
Rights. For that matter, the only sites I've seen that have protested
the Hiibel decision are pro-freedom sites.

The magnitude of the task before those of us who love freedom has
been revealed, in the yawning indifference of Americans to this
decision. I wonder how many of us are checking our "Claire Wolfe
clocks", and saying something like, "Wow -- how did it get to be
half-past time to shoot the bastards without me noticing?"

On June 21 the Supreme Court killed any pretense that may have
remained of protecting the Constitution, and thereby U.S. citizens,
from abuse at the hands of the state. And most of America scratched,
belched, and turned on the TV.

It's too early to say, but my optimism may have died that day too. I
hope not, but for now, I continue to be speechless in response to
the trends in the U.S.

----

2004-06-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

More Moore

Hit and Run keeps me up on my current favorite sport, Moore bashing, alerting me to a new book documenting all [I'm skeptical of a single book documenting everything, a single series of books maybe] of Moore's many, many, many, many lies, hypocrisies, and lies.

My guess is that the book will also expose some of Moore's lies and hypocrisies. I think I forgot to mention that part.

2004-06-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

Cars more Environmentally Friendly than Trains

MR has a good politically inncorrect find. It's also a good example of gov. regulation fucking thiings up.

Though in the end, none of this matters that much. It's just going to be fun to tell enviro-fundatmentalists about this study.

I can see their brains blowing steam out their ears already.

2004-06-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

More Moore

From the Agitator comes a great link about unintended consequences of bullshit unconstitutional legislation.

Michael Moore and other filmmakers [well, the others are filmmakers, Moore is more closely related to something you'd find under a rock] may not be allowed to promote or run ads for their films due to the campaign finance reform bill.

In case you forgot, its that bill that restricts citizens freedom of expression while doing nothing to stem the flow and influence of money over elections.

In other words, it does plenty of bad and no good. But that's the way most legislation works.

2004-06-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Sudan

Violence has increased again in Sudan. Women are being raped, people killed. Genocide is predicted.

The finger pointing has begun. Kofi Annan told UN member states they shouldn't hide behind him to mask their own inaction.

Anybody wanna guess what my prediction is on what the UN will do?

Dismantle the UN, let NGO's and other concerned groups help on their own. They'll respond more quickly, efficiently, and [imagine this] get something, anything, accomplished.

2004-06-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

Let the Games Begin

Christopher Hitchens' new article at Slate is the first account I've seen to date to take Michael Moore's newest film to task for his use, or lack thereof, of the facts and events since 9/11. Of course nobody should be surprised that Moore is loose with his facts or that he misses a few tid bits here and there [I'm shooting for understatement of the year here] when its convenient.

Hitchens' dead sprint in the opposite direction from the politics of the left [on the Iraq issue anyway], publicly beginning with his resignation from The Nation, has been staggeringly swift. Not to mention brutal and usually entertaining when he aims his pen at the anti-Bush contingent.

He doesn't disappoint with his latest contribution.

Goddamn. I nearly came to tears of joy a few times.

I wonder if I could print this article and have him autograph it for me.

via AL Daily

2004-05-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

New York Fucking City

Let the re-cord show [as Claire Huxtable used to say] that I am New York City.

I'm guessing pretty much every person that reads this blog is thinking, "duh."

What are you?

Leave your results in the comments section or email me if you prefer.

In case any of you are thinking I took the quiz 10 times until I got the right combo for New York City I'll say this, my first time with honest, gut reaction answers came out New York. After that I changed my answers several times to see if it changed because naturally a couple answers would change depending on my mood. Of the 7-8 different times I submitted my answers only twice did I come up with a different city.

Both times is was.....[I can't believe this] Cleveland.

Cleveland!!

Sigh.

Apparently if you like beer and only beer, you're Cleveland. That seems to be why I got Cleveland twice. Apparently the only thing separating New York from Cleveland is a little liquor. Luckily for me, I like acohol first and foremost, then beer.

via The Agitator

2004-05-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

As if....

I'd miss an opportunity to laugh hysterically at the United Nations.

2004-05-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

Bill Cosby

I've been thinking of ending this whole blogging thing until/unless I come up with a good group blog and theme.

But I had to post this because it came up again in the blogosphere, he won't cave to other "black leader's" pressure, and I feel so strongly about it.

Bill Cosby is a new hero of mine not for his humor, though I do enjoy it, but for his statements about being black in contemporary America.

2004-05-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Mention

I'm mentioned in a post yesterday over at the Agitator for passing along this article, which came to me via Elena.

I knew it'd piss off Radley as much as it did me and he gets far more traffic than I ever will. He also took the time to find the name of the asshole for all to write to. Brilliant.

During my lunch time blog roundup today I saw that the post was picked up by Hit and Run and also the Volokh Conspiracy. Awesome.

If you'd like to send in your two cents to the school board [schoolboard@rrdo.rrps.k12.nm.us] or school system, please do.

2004-05-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

Furkid

I think we all know someone who has one of these.

2004-05-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

Fond Farewell

I went out for coffee this evening and stopped by my local magazine store to pick up a subscription card for World Press Review, an indispensible magazine for anyone interested in the political affairs of pretty much everywhere. I flipped through it twice but had no luck finding a card so I started looking for subscription information in the front cover. That's when I read a letter from the editor announcing that the current issue is their last. The Stanley Foundation is discontinuing the magazine to focus its efforts elsewhere.

It's not clear yet whether they'll continue running the website or not.

It would be a terrible loss if that goes as well. I hope they choose to maintain it.

2004-05-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hollywood goes on a nature walk

Hollywood has teamed up with a some of the more kooky strains of professional "environmentalists" [also known as twits] in one of this summer's first major blockbusters. They're actually trying to suggest that while the time frame is somewhat condensed for filming purposes this is actually not that far fetched. Sympathizers are of course are trying to deny that anyone is suggeting that we take this movie even slightly seriously. Apparently they didn't actually browse the movie's site. And I quote, "There's more truth than hype." Nobody denies that changes are and will occur but the extent to which that will happen and its effects are vastly over blown by alarmists.

2004-05-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

Rapture

Sometimes I wish the fucking rapture would occur just so all these nut cases will no longer take up space on this planet.

from Elena, again.

2004-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

Poetry

You've got to read this one to believe it.

props to Elena

2004-05-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

Potty

My office building installed new toilets today.

Ordinarily not a blog worthy event.

Except for the fact that these new toilets are fucking hardcore.

Our old ones were granny toilets that flushed like each time would be their last.

After the toilets on our floor were installed today I wondered into the lil' boyz room to test out the craftsmenship. Everything seemed to go smoothly until I hit the handle to flush.

HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT!

If I hadn't just expunged all unnecessary waste I would've pissed myself! I literally jumped back and found myself pinned to the wall wimpering like a school boy from the thundering avalanche of water released into the toilet bowl.

They need to warn people about that shit!

2004-05-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

Rumors

I want to head off any vicious rumors you may soon be hearing about me. I can assure you they are NOT true.

Any of them.

Yes, I bought a Mariners hooded sweatshirt at a Mariners game tonight, but only out of desparation because my date carelessly forgot to bring her own sweatshirt so I kindly let her wear mine.

To make up for it we stopped by the Baltic Room [where any self-respecting Seattlite would find themselves on a Tuesday night] for some down and dirty drum n bass afterword. And I do mean down and dirty. It was the nastiest [that's a good thing for the uninitiated] jungle music I've heard in a long while.

Feels sooooo good.

2004-05-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

Wahoo!

You can now tell me exactly what you think of me publicly by clicking on the little link at the bottom of each post.

Wait, why am I excited about this again?

2004-05-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

Still testing...

2004-05-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

Pardon Me

I'm testing something....

2004-05-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

Dreams

This won't mean much to most readers, but I was just reminded of a dream I had the other night.

I was back in Wakarusa, Indiana and stopped into Cook's Pizza. For the unfortunate few who have never ventured to Wakarusa, Cook's Pizza [far left, fourth picture down, fin the foreground is Jeanette's fabric boutique owned by Jeanette Prenkert my former neighbor and mom of one of my closest friends from kindergarden through high school, then Village Video who's selection of about 200 videos provides me with my only form of entertainment each Christmas, and to the right of that is Cook's Pizza with the bench out front where the amish teenagers hang out on Sunday night's to socialize before drag racing each other home in their buggy's]is pretty much the only gig in town and its located right on the town square, which is to say the stop light at the intersection of Wakarusa's 2 busiest streets. For a little context, once while in college I was eating at Cook's with 2 friends I had brought home for the weekend. They nearly fell out of their chairs laughing when an amish kid, aged 10 maybe, driving a tractor pulled up and stopped at the light waiting for it to turn green.

Anyway, as I'm sure you've already noted Wakarusa is not the most acommodating place for a vegan [or former vegan, before the flood of corrections hits my inbox, Liz] to eat. Think salads made of white, wilting iceburg lettuce buried under strips of beef or chicken. But while I was waiting to place my order I noticed that they had expanded their menu to include veganburgers. I shit you not. I was stunned.

Then I woke up.

2004-05-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

Online gaming

This is probably the single most fascinating article I've ever blogged.

Did you know there are companies whose sole purpose is to buy online gaming property such as dragon slaying axes [they have much cooler names for all this stuff] and sell it at a profit? As usual eBay is a treasure trove for this stuff but increasingly people purchase their goods on other gaming sites.

Social scientists have pounced on the creation of these virtual currency markets and worlds for evidence for everything from socialism to libertarianism. However, economists have mostly ignored the papers written by the economist Edward Castronova, whose insight into the economics of these virtual worlds led to mainstream coverage of it.

2004-05-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

Urinal Test

From the Agitator comes an updated version of one of the earliest internet quizzes I can remember. And the most accurate.

Additional comments about proper peeing etiquette -

----

NO Talking, unless it's a good friend... but even then, keep it terse and unemotional. This ain't no clubhouse.

I don't think we need to tell you, absolutely NO touching of anyone other than yourself. A touch of another's elbow is of the highest offense.

NO Singing. Period.

Glances are for purposes of acknowledgment only..."Yeah, I see you there. I will not look again".

----

2004-05-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

New Theories

Arab conspiracy theorists continue to take make AdBusters proud.

via hit and run

2004-05-05T22:54:00.000-07:00

Fucking Fools

Apologists for communism and their memory holes.

I won't spoil the whole article for you by, well, copy and pasting it all here, but this is a juicy sample -

----

• Miami University’s Robert W. Thurston, in his 1996 book Life and Terror in Stalin’s Russia, rejects the overwhelming evidence that Stalin’s purges took the lives of millions. He concedes only 681,692 executions in the years 1937 and 1938, and a mere 2.5 million arrests. Even using those low-ball figures, that means that nearly one of every 20 adult Soviet males went to prison and that more than 900 of them were executed per day. Nonetheless, Thurston says Stalin has gotten a bad rap: There was no "mass terror...extensive fear did not exist...[and] Stalin was not guilty of mass first-degree murder."

----

It never ceases to amaze me the stupidity and willful ignorance that comes out of American univerisities.

2004-05-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

Quickie

I'm under a vicious deadline this week so my reading/blogging time has ground to a halt.

Over dinner [at my desk at work for the third night in a row] I did a little reading that I'll pass along to you.

Richard Florida is still defending his theories. [via political theory]

Iran, pro-America. Sorta. This article reminds me of a girl I met in Florence, Italy one evening while I was traveling in school. We got into International Relations [imagine that happening with me] which she studied in school. I was, and still am, pulling for Turkey to lead the middle east out of theocracy and into democracy, she said she was throwing her chips in with Iran. I'd never heard anyone say that before. But ever since then I've noticed that things have been happening there. More than once since that evening I thought she was going to turn out to be correct.

The Iranian link is to a Kristoff editorial in the NY Times. It's short and full of interesting anecdotes such as -

----

Oh, that one instance when I was treated inhospitably? That was in a teahouse near the Isfahan bazaar, where I was interviewing religious conservatives. They were warm and friendly, but a group of people two tables away went out of their way to be rude, yelling at me for being an American propagandist. So I finally encountered hostility in Iran — from a table full of young Europeans.

and

Partly because being pro-American is a way to take a swipe at the Iranian regime, anything American, from blue jeans to "Baywatch," is revered. At the bookshops, Hillary Clinton gazes out from three different pirated editions of her autobiography.

`It's a best seller, though it's not selling as well as Harry Potter," said Heidar Danesh, a bookseller in Tehran. "The other best-selling authors are John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon, Danielle Steel."

----

[via hit and run]

2004-05-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

Paint Blogging

I attempted to finish painting my living room today. It didn't happen.

And no, it's not because i was drinking whiskey and Coke the whole time. I'm cat sitting and have to go feed and play with the cutest kitties you've ever seen. [yes, I'm kissing ass, get over it]

2004-04-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

Columbine

[And why Michael "The Moron" Moore is wrong about yet another issue]

This Slate article on the Columbine killers does little to calm one's nerves.

Elena is fascinated by people like this and 'forces' me to read about them. I don't recommend reading just before going to bed though.

2004-04-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

Hypocrisy all around

Before I could hunt down Michael "The Moron" Moore's latest hypocrisy I came across another blog worthy article over at Hit&Run about the protests in DC over the weekend.

But on to Michael. Radley says he really is a hypocrite just in case you've been sleeping under a rock the last decade and a half or so. Brian Doherty has a good point, Moore's hypocrisy is the best thing about him.

2004-04-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

Laziness.

Lack of time is more like it.

I had wanted to comment at considerable more length than I'm going to about this article, sent to me by Megan.

And I was going to say something to the affect that its much more compelling than a study released from Berkley last summer which was one of the first things I ever posted about. I linked to this very funny response by Jonah Goldberg. It's still pretty funny.

2004-04-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

Joint Photographic Experts Group

Anyone else completely floored by the fact that the JPEG format for digital images has been around since the mid-1980's?

Oh yeah, the format may soon be non-existant too.

via free-market.net

2004-04-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Two articles I came across within seconds of each other [I love having 2 monitors and a cable modem]

First an article from the Seattle Times with a picture of our dear President that is as funny as the implication of the article is scary.

Second, talk about being un-PC.

An excerpt -

----

Women could join the Harlem Club, too. But only as associate members. And they had to be 35 or younger, unmarried, childless, college educated and willing to submit a head-to-toe photograph, to prevent unattractive women from making the cut.

....So far 200 young women, among them doctors, lawyers, accountants, investment bankers and models, have applied for associate membership, Mr. Lopez-Pierre said. He has deleted the e-mail applications of overweight women.

----

of course, all may not be what it seems. After all, we all discriminate based on appearance to varying degrees.

----

Tiffani Webb, 28, a licensed psychologist who lives in Brooklyn Heights, said she joined the club because she was tired of spending her evenings with other single black professional women who, like her, have not found Mr. Right. She points to a study by the Community Service Society that found that nearly half of working-age black men in New York City are jobless.

"What are your chances of going to a normal, regular environment and meeting someone who could be compatible with you professionally?" she said. "It's hard if you want an African-American man."

----

via Fire & Ice

2004-04-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

Halfway there

Last week, for the first time in months, I had funds available to go on an Amazon.com music shopping spree.

Of the six cd's I ordered three have arrived, the most recent came today.

In order of appearance they are:

Studio X-2 from Good Looking Records. An unmixed compilatioin of the newest and previously unreleased tracks from the greatest record label on the planet. Enough said.

Followed by a Ninja Tune release from Amon Tobin of remixes via collaboration with other label mates; most notably Kid Koala [whose cd should arrive any day now], Kid 606, and Bonobo. Another excellent release.

And finally an unmixed album from Nookie, also of GLO fame.

What do they all have in common? They are all UNMIXED.

Damnit.

Everyone knows mixed releases are better than unmixed. So why continue to put out unreleased material? That is what vinyl is for. Let the bedroom dj's of the world do their own mixing and allow the rest of us to rock out uninterrupted at work.

To my knowledge Amon Tobin has never released a mixed cd which is clearly one of the greatest tragedy's of my lifetime.

2004-04-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

Photos...

of the war in Iraq. Very graphic. Very disturbing.

You've been warned.

2004-04-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

Free-Market.net Tids and Bits

The TSA is a joke and private screening companies aren't far behind.

Typical of government bureaucracy -

----

Reports from the General Accounting Office, the Homeland Security Department inspector general and a private consulting firm also accused the TSA of being too bureaucratic and unresponsive.
All three investigative reports said their conclusions were based on limited information because the TSA did not adequately monitor the performance of screeners.
"Without those performance standards, we aren't going to be able to evaluate effectively," said Rep. James L. Oberstar, Minnesota Democrat.

..."Overall, these tests have shown weaknesses in both private and federal screeners' ability to detect threat objects," said the report from the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
Mr. Ervin, the Homeland Security inspector general, said the TSA would not allow private screening companies enough flexibility to adapt procedures to different airports.
As a result, the screening firms "could not effectively and immediately address problems with high attrition levels, understaffing, excessive overtime, and employee morale issues," Mr. Ervin said.

----

emphasis mine.

Next up -

----

"Citizens are not able to exercise the First Amendment whenever and wherever they wish," the judge said. "The government may control their own property."

----

I don't think its necessary to point out that every protest against the government occurs on government property [streets, the Mall in D.C., parks, etc] or that this interpretation of the First Amendment pretty much makes the Amendment irrelevant.

The implication here is that the government has the power to prohibit every single planned protest if it so chooses.

I have mixed feelings on protests and this article brings up a point I hadn't previously considered.

Considering the fact that protesters usually have to get a permit to organize a protest this judge is correct, in a way. The government rightly or wrongly does to a certain extent control "their own property." But aren't we all "owners" of that property?

Planning a protest that includes police protection/presence to ensure protester safety and to prevent violence and destruction, especially that which is directed at privately owned property, is something I support. [destroying someone's private property or business is very different from destroying government owned property in my opinion. I don't condone either but in the case of the latter I can forsee many extreme instances where I would consider it justified but the likely-hood of those instances occurring in the US is practically nil. In a place oppressed by a brutal leadership, I'd be all for just about any means necessary.] But being "allowed" to protest in the form of permits is something that seems both contradictory and illegal. The act of protesting in my eyes loses its significance when the body you are protesting against is "letting" you protest against it. That's not to say it's not worth doing but I can't help but feel like it gets reduced to a charade.

Now here are some people that know how to protest against their government!

2004-04-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

www.johnkerryisadouchebagbutimvotingforhimanyway.com

Why didn't I think of this?

via The Agitator

2004-04-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

Gay Lovers Protest and Rhino-on-Car Sex

The ever diligent Elena hits the jackpot today with these finds.

2004-04-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Implanted Chips

A nightclub in Spain has started using implanted chips for ID and payment purposes of its customers.

Another interesting application for the technology was mentioned as well.

----

He also alluded to plans for FN Herstal, which manufactures Browning and Smith and Wesson firearms, to develop an implant-firearm system that would make a firearm functional only to the individual implanted with its corresponding microchip. A scanner in the gun would be designed to recognize the owner.

Chase's mention of the FN Herstal-Verichip partnership came a full week before it's formal announcement by Applied Digital yesterday.

Chase believes all gun owners should be required to have a microchip implanted in their hand to be able to own a gun. While yesterday's Associated Press story on the prototype is primarily from the angle of police usage, WND reported two years ago that from the he outset of the company's acquisition of its "Digital Angel" implant patent – said to be GPS trackable – Applied touted the implant as a potential universal method of gun control.

----

2004-04-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

Sad

Talk about powerful imagery.

via hitandrun

2004-04-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

I've been told

this is more common than we might think.

I believe its in the book The Last Picture Show that other acts like this take place. It was my skepticism towards the actions in the book that prompted a friend to insist that this is more common than we might think.

But knowing her as I do, I'm still a bit, though much less so, skeptical.

[Elena, who is not the girl mentioned above, didn't get much done at work earlier this week]

2004-04-21T19:01:00.000-07:00

More from Elena

"My breasts have never done anyone any harm, while bin Laden's war has caused thousands of victims." -- Cicciolina - October 2002

Something to keep in mind while the justice department wastes our money going after Ron Jeremy and friends.

2004-04-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

Bad PR

Can you imagine being the government spokesman trying to explain this?

I wonder, does this mean we're going to war with Columbia now? Because, isn't it true that they're supporting terrorists by selling this filth?

via Elena

2004-04-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

President Bashing

This keeps appearing in my inbox so I thought I'd post it and get it over with.

----

Let's be consistent about the use of scripture.....

Dear President Bush:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law and
to
propose a constitutional amendment to ensure that all of the USA is
compliant.

When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I
simply
remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an
abomination...
End of debate. Since you are deeply observant, your constituency needs
some
guidance, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how
to
follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and
female,
provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine
claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you
clarify?
Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in
Exodus
21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for
her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her
period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how
do I
tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a
pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They
claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus
35:2. The
passage clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally
obligated to
kill him myself?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an
abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than
homosexuality. I
don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have
a
defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does
my
vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair
around
their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev . 19:27.
How
should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes
me
unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two
different
crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of
two
different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to
curse
and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the
trouble of
getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't
we
just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with
people
who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy
considerable
expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you
again
for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your dedicated voter .

----

Feel free to pass this on to my parents. Our don't ask don't tell policy forbids me from providing them with such blaspheme. Thanks.

2004-04-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

Laughing Out Loud

Knee Deep fan T o n y sends this Onion article -

----

Libertarian Reluctantly Calls Fire Department

CHEYENNE, WY—After attempting to contain a living-room blaze started by a cigarette, card-carrying Libertarian Trent Jacobs reluctantly called the Cheyenne Fire Department Monday. "Although the community would do better to rely on an efficient, free-market fire-fighting service, the fact is that expensive, unnecessary public fire departments do exist," Jacobs said. "Also, my house was burning down." Jacobs did not offer to pay firefighters for their service.

----

Please note that each letter on Tony's name is a different link. I wasn't sure which one was more important so I included them all.

2004-04-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

Volunteerism

One reason I'm a libertarian is that I believe in people's willingness to help one another. An example of this is the rise of volunteerism in our society. People will step in to fill a void without government intervention.

From, of all places, a publication by Getty Images called Taxi comes this tidbit in an article on what it calls Generation "I" [formerly known as Generation "X" according to this article] -

----

The number of non-profit organizations have increased 74% in 10 years. Primarily dedicated to health, education and scientific research, they now represent nearly half of the "independent sector."

----

2004-04-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

Ick

From A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson -

"...your mattress is home to perhaps two million microscopic mites, which come out in the wee hours to sup on your sebaceous oils and feast on all those lovely, crunchy flakes of skin that you shed as you doze and toss.

...if your pillow is six years old-which is apparently about the average age for a pillow-it has been estimated that one-tenth of its weight will be made up of "sloughed skin, living mites, dead mites and mite dung"...

...it's hardly surprising that most of the rest of the small-scale world is barely known to us. Go out into a woods-any woods at all-bend down and scoop up a handful of soil, and you will be holidng up to 10 billion bacteria, most of them unknown to science. Your sample will also contain perhaps a million plump yeasts, some 200,000 hairy little fungi known as molds, perhaps 10,000 protozoans (of which the most familiar is the amoeba), and assorted rotifers, flatworms, roundworms, and other microscopic creatures known collectively as cryptozoa...."

If you are fascinated by worthless information, [to the lay person at any rate] facts, and how much scientists don't know about the world we inhabit I can't recommend this book enough.

2004-04-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

Stuff

Interesting article on Wal-Mart.

They don't teach this in US History.

----

American filibusters attacked other countries almost every year between the mid-1830s and 1860. The most notorious filibuster was William Walker, who invaded Mexico with a private army in 1853. In 1855 he attacked Nicaragua, soon gaining control of the country. The next year, he arranged his own election as Nicaragua's president in a fixed vote. After losing power in 1857, he attacked Central America again, finally in 1860 suffering death at the hands of a Honduran firing squad.

Some filibusters were well-known figures. John Quitman, Mississippi governor in the 1830s and 1850s and a U.S. general in the Mexican-American War of the 1840s, organized an attack on Cuba. New York City's John L. O'Sullivan, the editor remembered for coining the expansionist slogan "Manifest Destiny," twice was prosecuted for participating in plots against Cuba.

Unlike modern terrorists, the filibusters never intentionally massacred civilian populations. But Europeans and Latin Americans regarded them the way Americans view terrorists today – as ruthless murderers causing horrific destruction. Walker's men burned parts of Granada and Nicaragua. Foreign diplomats repeatedly complained to the State Department that their countries were in a state of panic over American assaults.

----

from Liberty & Power

and more on drugs and terror over at L&P

2004-04-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

Tax Day

Charles Murray's proposal is excellent, but probably good for only giving me sweet dreams on tax day.

via political theory

2004-04-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

I'm Confused.

The left is against free trade. [sometimes, occassionally, is an election coming up?, um...] But the left likes to claim it cares about the little guy. The compassionate right also likes the little guy and talks a good free trade game but plays the same political game and creates steel tariffs and doles out agriculture subsidies like candy at Halloween.

Inspite of all the rhetoric, the current issue of Foreign Policy reports -

----

In 2001, the United States collected more in import duties from Bangladesh than it did from France, despite importing 12 times as much from France.

----

So let me get this straight. We allow the French to sell us their goods [except of course their best cheeses because the federal government has decided American tummies can't hack it] pretty much at cost. But when it comes to dirt poor Bangladesh we impose sky high duties which serve to screw the American consumer and the Bangladeshi producer keeping those producers poor and desolate.

Ok, I think I get it now.

2004-04-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

Affirmative Action: A Primer on How to Appear Enlightened vs. Racist

This is what you don't say:

----

"You can't play a schedule like that unless you have the black athlete today. You just can't do it, and it's very, very tough, still, to get into Notre Dame. They just don't understand it, yet they want to win."

----

Here is what you do say:

----

Notre Dame strongly believes that a diverse football team is an important part of its mission as a place of higher learning. Furthermore, I believe that diversity is crucial to the success of Notre Dame football. The football team needs to look more like America and reflect the multicultural nature of society. Therefore, the football team should do everything it can to increase its diversity. This includes enacting academic and recruiting programs aimed specifically at increasing African-American enrollment.

----

I like the idea that my Fighting Irish are intelligent people and for the most part decent humans beings that find beating their girlfriends and stealing things repulsive.

On the other hand, to be competitive they might as well lower their standards along with everyone else, its not like the NCAA cares.

2004-04-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

I beg you

Seriously, I am down on my knees begging you to go to the New York Times front page and look at the picture of President Bush they put on their home page.

It is classic.

As soon as I publish this post I'm falling to floor in the fetal position in laughter.

2004-04-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

Damnit!

DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT!

Fox is replaying the news conference right now and I happened to stumble upon it and lack the will power to keep surfing. [it doesn't help that I only have about 4 channels to choose from]

OH MY GOD, this is truly painful. Karl Rove fucked up this time. Who the hell briefed him on this? What was the white house thinking?

Just stop. Put him out of his misery.

If I saw it re-enacted on the Comedy Channel or SNL I wouldn't believe a minute of it. I almost feel sorry for the writers on those shows, how do you deal with material that is so far beyond satire in its original form?

2004-04-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

Public Transportation

I had my first [of which I assume there will be many if Last Days is to be believed] experience in the surreal world of public transportation tonight on the bus on the way home from yoga class.

We'd had an uneventful ride back to Seattle from Mercer Island until we approached the heart of downtown. There was a man sitting shotgun on the bus [shotgun being the very front seat across from the driver] that I hadn't noticed up to the point where we were sitting at this particular stop light. As soon as the bus driver hit the gas when the light changed I saw this guy start to fall forward from the movement of the bus. What caught my attention was the fact that he was totally limp and slumped over and never reacted to the sudden movement of the bus. Now, normally when people fall asleep in moving vehicles they wake up with a start when it moves in an unpredictable manner. Not this guy. He stayed slumped over and limp all the way to the floor until the top of his head [top, mind you, he flipped that far over] smashed into the floor of the bus. There was absolutely no reaction, no response from his body to show that he had woken up or realized he was falling. He's lucky he didn't break his neck falling directly on his head like that. I wanted to laugh but I my first thought was that he was already dead since he didn't react to falling in the first place. My second thought was that he died from the blow to the head. Fortunately as soon as he landed and rolled he came to and slowly, very slowly, realized what happened and picked himself back up and sat down again.

Try as I might and as good as my poker face is, I can't help but feel sick inside for people whose lives are so fucked up that things like that happen to them.

2004-04-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

El Presidente

Well, after reading this I guess I won't waste my time and blood pressure listening to Bush's press conference tonight.

As a good friend of mine likes to say, "what a waste of space" he is.

2004-04-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

Seattle City Council

Gets one right.

2004-04-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

Rachel Carson and DDT

It's been known for years and is fortunately getting more mainstream airtime these days that banning DDT outright has caused cases of Malaria to skyrocket around the world.

----

But this time around, I was also struck by something that did not occur to me when I first read the book in the early 1980's. In her 297 pages, Rachel Carson never mentioned the fact that by the time she was writing, DDT was responsible for saving tens of millions of lives, perhaps hundreds of millions.

DDT killed bald eagles because of its persistence in the environment. ''Silent Spring'' is now killing African children because of its persistence in the public mind. Public opinion is so firm on DDT that even officials who know it can be employed safely dare not recommend its use. ''The significant issue is whether or not it can be used even in ways that are probably not causing environmental, animal or human damage when there is a general feeling by the public and environmental community that this is a nasty product,'' said David Brandling-Bennett, the former deputy director of P.A.H.O. Anne Peterson, the Usaid official, explained that part of the reason her agency doesn't finance DDT is that doing so would require a battle for public opinion. ''You'd have to explain to everybody why this is really O.K. and safe every time you do it,'' she said -- so you go with the alternative that everyone is comfortable with.

''Why it can't be dealt with rationally, as you'd deal with any other insecticide, I don't know,'' said Janet Hemingway, director of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. ''People get upset about DDT and merrily go and recommend an insecticide that is much more toxic.''

Because the ban on DDT became the midwife to the environmental movement, the debate about it, even today, is bizarrely polarized. Most environmental groups don't object to DDT where it is used appropriately and is necessary to fight malaria. But liberals still tend to consider it a symbol of the Frankenstein effects of unbridled faith in technology. For conservatives, whose Web sites foam at the mouth about the hypocrisy of environmentalists, DDT continues to represent the victory of overzealous regulators and Luddites who misread and distort science.

----

via ALDaily

2004-04-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, I get my chance!

She's gonna be single again!

2004-04-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

Good lord. Get over yourselves.

Small coffee roasters are pissed that major chains are using the fact that they buy fair trade coffee as a "marketing ploy," as if their motivation for buying fair trade is somehow less ethical by virtue of the fact that they sell a lot of coffee.

Nevermind the fact that the more fair trade coffee sold, the better for the growers.

Self-righteousness apparently can't be bothered with reality.

via Steven Taylor via James Joyner

2004-04-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

Worms

It's amazing how fast you lose your appetite after cutting open a green pepper with live worms wiggling around inside.

2004-04-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

Star-schmucks

It's for purposes such as this that god invented Flash.

Requires audio, not work friendly.

2004-04-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

I got out...

just in time to avoid being officially associated with this.

It is harsh from the very first sentence and doesn't let up.

----

The best thing that can be said about 700 Broadway is that it's better than an empty lot. The prominent site at the intersection of East Roy Street and 10th Avenue East lay fallow for years, polluted by its previous occupant, a gas station.

Designed by Weber + Thompson, the new apartment and retail building acknowledges the significance of the site by terminating the north end of Broadway with a curved wall, but falls apart in a cacophony of shapes, details and cheap materials.

It's not the most egregious design in town, but it is a prime example of how mediocre architecture can drain Seattle's vitality and saps our souls.

----

I had nothing to do with the design, but I did put in a few weeks doing redlines on this project when I first started at Weber + Thompson.

2004-04-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

Blogroll

I think I might grow to like this one a lot.

Thanks to daymented for the tip

2004-04-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

Racial Profiling and Network Television

Before I start this post, I'd like to make it clear that the source comes from the Dateline NBC episode I'm watching right now so a bit of bias and/or sensationalism is expected from the story.

The producers started with the killing of a Cincinnati, Ohio teenager which resulted in days of rioting a few years ago.

Again and again the reporters found evidence of racial profiling - ie, blacks being pulled over for "non-moving violations" three times as often as whites. They interviewed some of these 'suspects' and asked what the stated reasons for pulling them over were. Like it says at the top of this page, laugh, or you'll cry: because of the air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror, for "not turning on the headlights" [which happened to be automatic daylight driving lights], for driving a nice car, loud music, etc.

Typically though the show dwells on the existence of racial profiling without ever questioning why it's happening.

This is what tends to raise my blood pressure when discussions of this sort occur. The obvious suggestion from the show is that we should "end" racial profiling as if there are no causes behind the problem. We can just magically end it and all will be zen.

I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to criticizing the police and for good reason. They are put in a very difficult position. Communities put immense pressure on them to make the streets safe and at the same time they're not supposed to "racially profile" citizens. And sometimes people lie and accuse the police of things they didn't do. But that argument is a double-edged sword.

Unfortunately for the police, profiling brings in results, ie - arrests and convictions, which makes them look good and citizens happy.

Coupled with the pressure for results is the war on drugs which puts disproportionate weight on drug convictions compared to other, often more violent and dangerous, violations. Demanding that the police produce results is naturally going push them in the direction of finding the most effiecent means for producing those results. Enter racial profiling.

I don't mean to place the problem exclusively at the feet of the drug war but it is [probably] the biggest culprit out of the myriad of causes.

2004-04-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

Hoosiers in the News

We're all this smart, really.

I was born in the same town, which obviously means I'm just as talented, you all just haven't noticed yet.

Read the rest of the article, its fascinating what some people are up to.

Like this guy who, upon reading about him, will help me sleep again at night after having read this book, particularly part V, whose author is also a nominee.

2004-04-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah

I'm a new subscriber to Reason and something happened with my subscription and payment so after 2 issues they cut me off. Wouldn't you know it I get cut off just as I could have had a photo of my house printed on the cover of this month's magazine.

Damnit!

2004-04-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

For all my architecture homies out there....

Introducing.......the Ranchburger.

and lots of other new words.

two more.

2004-04-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

Hee-larious

I still get these forwards from my dad. [He's late to the whole email forwarding gig]

Also, apparently there's some confusion over the authenticity of this video, but it is goddamn funny regardless.

Well, on that second link, if anyone finds a functioning version, let me know, this link worked earlier today when I tried it but its not now. And if you haven't seen it , oooooohhhh man! are you missing out.

If you want to find you might try searching for David Letterman videos, it was a clip he showed on his show recently. I'm tooooo lazy to bother.

2004-04-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

Anti-Americanism

From ALDaily comes a book review by John Parker.

It's long, but worth the read. I plan to read the book as well. Parker points out many good [excellent really] rebuttals in the book to the anti-American rhetoric. I'm curious as to how favorably the author views the US government overall. The review, which does contain some critiques toward the end, is generally rather positive. The reviewer admits to already holding the same views as the author.

2004-04-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

Toooo Funny.

Assuming you like to poke fun at IKEA as much as me.

from Political Theory

2004-04-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

buncha stuff

free market environmentalism

more free market enviro-ism....

top secret, classified public speeches. if u can figure that one out, lemme know yo.

2004-04-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

My Weekend Project

After 7 or 8 redesigns, 2 visits to Home Depot, 1 "borrowed" power tool [i.e. used without permission], and 1 mis-cut and discarded piece, I present to you the very first www.jaisn.com designed and built piece of furniture.

and it's on wheels!.....because, shouldn't everything be on wheels?

You too can have your very own jaisn.com coffee table replica for only $199.99 including labor, excluding travel expenses and unlimited microbrews of my choice.

2004-04-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

Whoa

I totally missed this one.

----

Tonight Eugene Volokh and I were on Hugh Hewitt's radio show talking about the Daily Kos scandal. Eugene and I agreed that what Markos Zuniga, the Democratic political consultant and fundraiser who runs The Daily Kos, said about the four Americans who were murdered in Falluja was an outrage. We disagreed on what it signifies about the modern Democratic Party. Eugene is inclined to cut the party some slack and wait to see whether the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will eventually distance themselves from Zuniga's callous comment on the four murdered Americans: "Screw them."

----

"Screw Them"!?

Jesus Christ. I don't care what you think of Dubya or the war in Iraq, those four people were fucking human beings asshole. They deserve far more respect from the rest of humanity for being humans than apparently you do.

Eugene Volokh has a good response to what he calls the Daily Kos' "non-apology."

Also John Kerry, to his credit, backed away from The Daily Kos' remarks.

Mark Kleiman has more.

2004-04-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Got My Money on My Mind.....

Surprisingly enough a few Swedes, the same Swedes that my Swedish ex-girlfriend told me don't like to brag/talk about/have money, decided to claim that they have the richest mofo on the planet. But then later in the day other Swedes said no, it ain't so, Billy's still the big man on the planet.

2004-04-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Half-Baked

Another site to add to your Wasting Time at Work favorites folder.

2004-04-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

Right-wing Eye

Given that I tend to be harder on the left than the right for reasons I won't go into here, I'm going to give all the KneeDeep fans out there a great lil' flash movie poking fun at the right.

sound cards mandatory.....

2004-04-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

Wicked Site

wow.

2004-04-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Child Labor and Self-righteous Indignation

From Marginal Revolution comes an article by Nicholas Kristoff writing about the consequences of international labor standards -

----

It's appalling that Abakr, like tens of millions of other children abroad, is working instead of attending school. But prohibiting child labor wouldn't do him any good, for there's no school in the area for him to attend. If child labor hawks manage to keep Abakr from working, without giving him a school to attend, he and his family will simply be poorer than ever.

And that's the problem when Americans get on their high horses about child labor, without understanding the cruel third world economics that cause it. The push by Democrats like John Kerry for international labor standards is well intentioned, but it is also oblivious to third world realities.

Look, I feel like Scrooge when I speak out against bans on sweatshops or on child labor. In the West, it's hard to find anyone outside a university economics department who agrees with me. But the basic Western attitude — particularly among Democrats and warm-and-fuzzy humanitarians — sometimes ends up making things worse.

----

His solution -

----

It's bribery. The U.N. World Food Program runs a model foreign aid effort called the school feeding program. It offers free meals to children in poor schools.... "If there were meals here, parents would send their kids," said Muhammad Adam, a teacher in Toukoultoukouli.

School feeding costs just 19 cents per day per child.

So here's my challenge to university students: Instead of spending your energy boycotting Nike or pressing for barriers against child labor, why not sponsor school meals in places like Toukoultoukouli?

I spoke with officials at the World Food Program [you can donate at this link], and they'd be thrilled to have private groups or individuals help sponsor school feedings. Children in Africa will be much better off with a hot meal and an education than with your self-righteous indignation.

----

See Tyler Cowen's earlier post on child labor and other misguided attempts at ending it.

Additionally, I would add that directing ones indignation toward corrupt governments is a key component in bringing about an end to child labor. Creating more transparent and accountable governments where laws are created and/or enforced will be a boon for the poorest citizens in those countries. It's well known that corporations don't necessarily open factories in countries with the cheapest labor when they can't be sure that they won't be shaken down or charged excessive tariffs and fees for doing business there. Running a successful factory can result not only in extreme payoffs but a corrupt government isn't above taking over the factory outright, keeping the profits for themselves. And before attempting to point out that companies like Nike open those foreign factories so they can "exploit" the workers I'll remind you that western companies run the safest and best paying factories in these poor countries. Jobs at western owned companies are the most sought after jobs for these reasons, taking those jobs away sends children into the streets and prostitution among other equally heart breaking options.

For more on this go here and here.

2004-04-01T12:40:00.000-08:00

Silencing Minorities since 2004!

Those goddamn leftists are at it again.

I realize, and I assume most other people do to, that things like this are bound to happen but when its bleeding heart lefties, the ones usually self-righteously outraged by such events, causing it its just too hard to resist pointing it out and getting a good laugh.

via Hit and Run

2004-03-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

Kill 'em all

As if my hatred for them wasn't already bad enough.....

[except for the saints at IJ of course]

This is one of those areas where my lib cred is the weakest. My blind hatred for trial lawyers.

link via corante

2004-03-30T20:02:00.000-08:00

2 things

This game's fun!

2004-03-30T19:02:00.000-08:00

Revelation

I'm to lazy to edit the following to make it blog worthy [it is almost an exact copy of an email I sent to a friend] so you will just have to deal with it.

guess what happened to me 2day. i am officially
werking on the panang malaysia project now and wuz
updated on the changes made during my boss's meeting
with the client last week. and because we're so busy
i was the only one of the 3 of us put to work on the
changes. i started putting the new concept into cad
to so i could run square footages to check what ron
[boss man] said he calculated/wanted [which i found
out at the end of the day was more what he wanted than
what he had actually calculated.]. it took me the
whole day of feeling sorta lost and not sure of what
to do next to realize, after a short conversation with
my boss about my progress, that i was supposed to be
designing. as in, roll up my sleeves, grab some sketch
paper and have at it like we did in school. i really
didnt grasp the concept until i was walking to catch
the bus home. i had gotten so used to just being told what
to do that when faced with the opportunity to think for
myself, i didnt know what to do. suddenly i can't wait to go
to work in the morning. i get to design! my boss isn't going to
hand me a drawing and tell me to draft it! I'm doing
the drawing, and the calcs, and everything else. I
actually get to make decisions. Think. After coming
to that realization I started thinking about the
project and realized I needed to know how people are
approaching the site, by car? on foot? boat? all of
the above? what is the context of the site? rural?
urban? suddenly what i do actually depends on these
types of considerations. i have all these changes i
want to make because what my boss handed me doesn't
make sense to me in some areas.

I can't even tell you what this is like. Feeling like
I'm getting paid to think and not just to produce.

I'm sure further on I'll be doing more production and
taking direction but I think my boss wasn't lying to
me in my interview, I actually will be more involved
in my projects at WATG.

what a novel idea.

2004-03-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

And speaking of blogs....

Pol Pots best friend just started a new blog.

Check out the comments section of the first post. Am I the only one who came away with the impression that he has more enemies than friends?

2004-03-25T19:08:00.000-08:00

The Blogosphere is a changin'

From Verizon to Dr. Pepper, corporate America is jumping on the bandwagon either to increase efficiency and productivity [while reducing costs] or to market their products and keep tabs on the ever changing cultural scene.

2004-03-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

I just bought a new phone, computer, and 3 tickets to Vegas

Who wants the extra tickets?

2004-03-25T18:11:00.000-08:00

Smoking bans

Radley Balko does a good job of making refuting the arguments of those in favor of smoking bans -

----

A few months ago, I wrote a column in this space on efforts by anti-tobacco zealots to ban smoking in all public spaces, including privately-owned businesses. I was floored at how much negative e-mail I received in response to that column. The common theme among these negative responses was that non-smokers shouldn’t be subjected to the secondhand health effects caused by smokers. One guy wrote to say that he really enjoyed jazz and blues clubs, and didn’t see why he should have to suck in cigarette smoke in order to enjoy the music he loves.

Well, here’s why:

Someone put up a good deal of his own money to open that blues club. That, or he risked his reputation and financial status to take out a loan. Someone took great care to set the atmosphere of that club. Someone did all the appropriate paperwork, applied for all of the appropriate licenses, and took care to hire bartenders, a wait staff, and managers. Someone worries about that blues club’s financial success. Someone assumes the risks and liabilities that come with operating a business, particularly one that serves alcohol.

The author of that e-mail who enjoys this blues club took none of those risks. He put up none of his own money. He has no stake in that club’s success or failure, save for the fact that if it fails, he’ll need to find another blues club. So why should he be able to insist, with the help of government, that the guy who risked everything serve him on his terms?

----

2004-03-23T20:46:00.000-08:00

Slavery

A new book puts the number of white slaves at 1 million between 1530 and 1780.

via PT

2004-03-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

Funny quote

My wife, Mary, and I have been married for forty-seven years, and not once have we had an argument serious enough to consider divorce; murder, yes, but divorce, never.

-- Jack Benny

via The Future of Freedom Foundation [not sure what that has to do with freedom, but it's funny]

2004-03-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

Blog break

Two funny things today -

1] Graffiti in Baghdad.

2] And Senator Sanorum's response.

2004-03-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

Box Shop

The newest and coolest website on the internet is finally fully functional.

Welcome to www.box-shop.net