Somewhere in the Senate legislative process, the tobacco bill has lost all its funding to help smokers quit smoking, keep people from starting and keeping children from buying cigarettes.
Christopher Hitchens was on C-SPAN last night. One of the things he said was that the president of Pakistan had written to Clinton and Albright weeks before the Indian nuclear tests warning of their imminence and asking what the US was going to do about it. The US never replied. When asked what happened to the letters, State & White House said that they passed them on to the CIA. Which was then blamed for not warning the White House. Hitchens thinks the story of an "intelligence failure" was accepted a little too readily, when complicity seems more likely.
Saturday, June 13, 1998
Some British teenage hackers got into the Indian nuclear computers and erased a bunch of files and told them exactly what they thought of nuclear weapons.
Kenneth Starr finally admits that he regularly leaks to the press, but says it is necessary "to engender confidence in the work of this office." The interviews are of course on a not-for-attribution basis. I feel more confident already.
A racist party does very well indeed in the Queensland elections, as I'm sure you've all been following.
The US government finally apologizes and pays off those Japanese we kidnapped out of Latin American countries during World War II. Of course they only get one-fourth what Japanese-Americans got, and only when the latter are paid off, if there's any money left. But, hell, they were illegal aliens.
Jewish settlers on the West Bank are now to be allowed to form their own armed civil guard units.
Creepy medical procedure of the week: babies with two mommies for real. You take nutrient from the egg of a young woman and mix it in with the egg of an older woman, ensuring that 50-year olds can give birth, like that's a good idea. No one's quite sure how much of the DNA from the donor gets mixed in, but some of it definitely does. 2 women are pregnant by this technique now.
Republicans in the Senate are blocking a judge (big news there, huh?), one Sonia Sotomayor, a hispanic woman, for the 2nd Circuit. They can't find anything in her record to object to, but they're afraid that if she gets this slot, she'll be appointed to the Supreme Court by Clinton or Gore, and they don't want Dems to have any viable options for the Stevens seat (or whomever), especially a hispanic woman.
The Flemish regional government has voted to give state aid to Nazi collaborators on the same basis as war victims.
Ireland still has a list of banned books: H.G. Wells, Upton Sinclair, The Second Sex, Marie Stopes, etc etc. That may change this week.
Is everybody ready for another Balkans war? I thought not.
There are so many brushfire wars these days, I can't keep track of them all. Whatever happened to the Namibia-Botswana border dispute? What's going on in Kashmir? Start looking out now for the next one, Cyprus, due to commence sometime in July.
That offer everyone reported from that nice Mr. Habibie to give autonomy to East Timor? The price tag was that the UN, Portugal and everyone have to recognize that Indonesia owns it. No thanks.
Kenneth Starr finally admits that he regularly leaks to the press, but says it is necessary "to engender confidence in the work of this office." The interviews are of course on a not-for-attribution basis. I feel more confident already.
A racist party does very well indeed in the Queensland elections, as I'm sure you've all been following.
The US government finally apologizes and pays off those Japanese we kidnapped out of Latin American countries during World War II. Of course they only get one-fourth what Japanese-Americans got, and only when the latter are paid off, if there's any money left. But, hell, they were illegal aliens.
Jewish settlers on the West Bank are now to be allowed to form their own armed civil guard units.
Creepy medical procedure of the week: babies with two mommies for real. You take nutrient from the egg of a young woman and mix it in with the egg of an older woman, ensuring that 50-year olds can give birth, like that's a good idea. No one's quite sure how much of the DNA from the donor gets mixed in, but some of it definitely does. 2 women are pregnant by this technique now.
Republicans in the Senate are blocking a judge (big news there, huh?), one Sonia Sotomayor, a hispanic woman, for the 2nd Circuit. They can't find anything in her record to object to, but they're afraid that if she gets this slot, she'll be appointed to the Supreme Court by Clinton or Gore, and they don't want Dems to have any viable options for the Stevens seat (or whomever), especially a hispanic woman.
The Flemish regional government has voted to give state aid to Nazi collaborators on the same basis as war victims.
Ireland still has a list of banned books: H.G. Wells, Upton Sinclair, The Second Sex, Marie Stopes, etc etc. That may change this week.
Is everybody ready for another Balkans war? I thought not.
There are so many brushfire wars these days, I can't keep track of them all. Whatever happened to the Namibia-Botswana border dispute? What's going on in Kashmir? Start looking out now for the next one, Cyprus, due to commence sometime in July.
That offer everyone reported from that nice Mr. Habibie to give autonomy to East Timor? The price tag was that the UN, Portugal and everyone have to recognize that Indonesia owns it. No thanks.
Thursday, June 11, 1998
With Reagan, it was ketchup
If Bill and Hillary are Southern Baptists, does that mean she has to submit to him? Isn't that what interns are for?
With Charlton Heston leading the NRA, does that mean they have to spend 40 years in the desert? Soylent green, I mean the NRA, is people!
Ethiopia and Eritrea are not terribly impressed with the US's attempt to get them to settle the war by sending a 33-year old woman from the State Department to sort it all out for them. Where is Warren Christopher when you need him?
'Let Them Eat Grass' -- the Pakistani Elite's Solution
Impoverished Public Is Skeptical of Patriotic Belt-Tightening Urged by Leaders Amid Costly Arms Race
By John Ward Anderson and Kamran Khan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, June 11, 1998
With Pakistan facing bankruptcy because of sanctions stemming from its nuclear weapons program and defense spending likely to rise because of a new arms race with India, top leaders have asked their countrymen to do their patriotic duty and "eat grass" so money will be available for national security. ...
With Charlton Heston leading the NRA, does that mean they have to spend 40 years in the desert? Soylent green, I mean the NRA, is people!
Ethiopia and Eritrea are not terribly impressed with the US's attempt to get them to settle the war by sending a 33-year old woman from the State Department to sort it all out for them. Where is Warren Christopher when you need him?
'Let Them Eat Grass' -- the Pakistani Elite's Solution
Impoverished Public Is Skeptical of Patriotic Belt-Tightening Urged by Leaders Amid Costly Arms Race
By John Ward Anderson and Kamran Khan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, June 11, 1998
With Pakistan facing bankruptcy because of sanctions stemming from its nuclear weapons program and defense spending likely to rise because of a new arms race with India, top leaders have asked their countrymen to do their patriotic duty and "eat grass" so money will be available for national security. ...
Sunday, June 07, 1998
So the neutrino has mass after all. Well I'm pleased to hear it.
CNN & Time magazine say that during the Vietnamese War the US dumped sarin gas on a Laotian village, killing at least 100 people, in order to kill some US defectors they thought were living there.
Bumper sticker on sale in Berkeley: Will be President for food.
And a special thank you to whoever it was chopped off most of the parking meters south of the Berkeley campus.
CNN & Time magazine say that during the Vietnamese War the US dumped sarin gas on a Laotian village, killing at least 100 people, in order to kill some US defectors they thought were living there.
Bumper sticker on sale in Berkeley: Will be President for food.
And a special thank you to whoever it was chopped off most of the parking meters south of the Berkeley campus.
Friday, June 05, 1998
Check out, and you'll have to take my word on this one, www.godhatesfags.com. Go to their list of pamphlets and read it.
So, do we have to start calling it Spaceship Oakland now?
The school prayer & subsidized religious schooling amendment only gets a majority in the House of Representatives.
The Department of Health and Human Services found the money it needed to fix its Y2K problem. It raided a program for homeless teenagers. Good priorities, guys! Congress would have objected but it was too busy voting on school prayer. By the way, they did sneak through a change to the law of debt as it has existed for many centuries, allowing bankrupts to give to charities rather than pay off the people they owe money to.
The Daily Show tonight had a segment on a sheriff who, unlike Sheriff Joe in Phoenix who believes in bologna sandwiches for prisoners, serves lots and lots of good fattening food, because he likes his prisoners chubby and complacent.
So, do we have to start calling it Spaceship Oakland now?
The school prayer & subsidized religious schooling amendment only gets a majority in the House of Representatives.
The Department of Health and Human Services found the money it needed to fix its Y2K problem. It raided a program for homeless teenagers. Good priorities, guys! Congress would have objected but it was too busy voting on school prayer. By the way, they did sneak through a change to the law of debt as it has existed for many centuries, allowing bankrupts to give to charities rather than pay off the people they owe money to.
The Daily Show tonight had a segment on a sheriff who, unlike Sheriff Joe in Phoenix who believes in bologna sandwiches for prisoners, serves lots and lots of good fattening food, because he likes his prisoners chubby and complacent.
Thursday, June 04, 1998
Clearly what has to be done is just to flood the world with Viagra. In Third World countries, the fake stuff has been killing people. And there would be a benefit I hadn't even thought of until today: think how much safer African rhinos and Chinese bears will be if no one's killing them for their horns or testicles (um, respectively, of course).
Hey, Kevin, I've also just thought what to get you for a wedding present!
Will Durst says of the end of the primary and the beginning of the actual election race: $64 million down, a gazillion to go.
But at least we have B1-Bob to kick around again.
Speaking of insane right-wing losers, Alabama governor Fob James is in trouble. The primary was not conclusive and will require a run-off. His opponent Winton Blout 3rd (yes, the third) says that Fob is an embarrassment to the state of Alabama, as if that was possible. Fobbio replies that Blout is a fat monkey.
Hey, Kevin, I've also just thought what to get you for a wedding present!
Will Durst says of the end of the primary and the beginning of the actual election race: $64 million down, a gazillion to go.
But at least we have B1-Bob to kick around again.
Speaking of insane right-wing losers, Alabama governor Fob James is in trouble. The primary was not conclusive and will require a run-off. His opponent Winton Blout 3rd (yes, the third) says that Fob is an embarrassment to the state of Alabama, as if that was possible. Fobbio replies that Blout is a fat monkey.
Wednesday, June 03, 1998
Factoid of the day: the word cannibal was coined by Christopher Columbus.
If you watch a late broadcast of today's MacNeil-Lehrer, you will hear a debate of sorts between on tomorrow's vote to amend the first amendment to allow school prayer (and loads of other stuff). No atheists present, so there was no one to suggest that perfect religious freedom is not guaranteed by the amendment's phrase about letting people "acknowledge God". The fun part of the segment is watching the Baptist guy in favor of the amendment continually fail to come to terms with the idea of a non-Christian religion. The opponent was a rabbi, and the Baptist kept referring to him as "Reverend, I mean rabbi.." or "Mister, I mean rabbi".
Still not much talk about punishing Israel for having the atomic bomb, as we have India and Pakistan. I'm waiting to see if there's any coverage in the US of the fact that the top Indian nuclear scientist, who is the new national hero, has spent a lot of time visiting Israel in the last couple of years. By the way, the Japanese think that North Korea has the bomb as well.
If you watch a late broadcast of today's MacNeil-Lehrer, you will hear a debate of sorts between on tomorrow's vote to amend the first amendment to allow school prayer (and loads of other stuff). No atheists present, so there was no one to suggest that perfect religious freedom is not guaranteed by the amendment's phrase about letting people "acknowledge God". The fun part of the segment is watching the Baptist guy in favor of the amendment continually fail to come to terms with the idea of a non-Christian religion. The opponent was a rabbi, and the Baptist kept referring to him as "Reverend, I mean rabbi.." or "Mister, I mean rabbi".
Still not much talk about punishing Israel for having the atomic bomb, as we have India and Pakistan. I'm waiting to see if there's any coverage in the US of the fact that the top Indian nuclear scientist, who is the new national hero, has spent a lot of time visiting Israel in the last couple of years. By the way, the Japanese think that North Korea has the bomb as well.
Tuesday, June 02, 1998
Last month Israeli spy planes flew over Pakistan, presumably looking for the "Islamic bomb". Pakistan was sure Israel was about to bomb it. There's a lesson in there somewhere.
As much as I really felt I needed to know about this story:
[56]Better Access to Gravesite Of Stonewall Jackson's Arm
SPOTSYLVANIA, Va.The National Park Service, responding to the interest of Civil War buffs, is making it easier to find the spot where Stonewall Jackson's arm is buried.
As much as I really felt I needed to know about this story:
[56]Better Access to Gravesite Of Stonewall Jackson's Arm
SPOTSYLVANIA, Va.The National Park Service, responding to the interest of Civil War buffs, is making it easier to find the spot where Stonewall Jackson's arm is buried.
Saturday, May 30, 1998
Yes, you always knew where you stood with Barry Goldwater. And Adolf Hitler. Enough with the eulogies already!
In 1961 a US warplane caught fire at an RAF base in the south of England. The fire almost succeeded in opening up the nuclear bomb on board, in which case Suffolk would have been an irradiated desert for centuries to come.
In 1961 a US warplane caught fire at an RAF base in the south of England. The fire almost succeeded in opening up the nuclear bomb on board, in which case Suffolk would have been an irradiated desert for centuries to come.
Thursday, May 28, 1998
"I'm Troy McClure. You may remember me..." Yes we do, Phil. Yes we do.
The only joke I remember from Will Durst's special last night: Kenneth Starr is like a cat that keeps dragging stuff into the house that we don't want to see. "Oh good, a dead mouse."
According to the Press Clips section of the Village Voice, India's nuclear tests were not only a surprise to the CIA, but to the news media, which had almost uniformly missed the BJP's election manifesto promise to do so. Of course I read the British papers, and they actually give a shit about what goes on in the sub-continent even without someone hitting them over the head with a nuclear hammer.
Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif: "We paid them back." Pakistan immediately declares a state of emergency and suspends all press freedom and civil rights (I just read a Pakistani newspaper. They didn't know what to do with press freedom anyway) to deal with the upcoming sanctions. And just as the shit is about to hit the fans of the world stock markets again. Bad timing. Well they didn't need civil rights, and India didn't need electricity (the World Bank has suspended loans for electrification).
Of course we all knew that Pakistan was a nuclear power. They are not only not more of a nuclear power today than they were yesterday, but they are less of one, since they just wasted about half of their weapons-grade uranium. Our nuclear non-proliferation policy is evidently based on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell principle.
So how are these nuclear powers different from all other nuclear powers? If mutual assured destruction was good enough for Europe, why not for India? For a start, the warning time is way too short. It'll be like a permanent Cuban Missile Crisis. Second, there aren't enough nukes to make nuclear war unthinkable. Maybe we need to make sure that Pakistan gets the uranium it needs? In the last few years the Indian military has been increasing its superiority over Pakistan, which means that Pakistani thinking has increasingly been that Paki nukes would be used to prevent conventional attacks from India (just like those going on in Kashmir the last few days). They would probably have to anyway, as Indian air superiority means it could quickly shut down the Pakistani ability to get its Mirages into the air--Pakistan would either have to use its nukes earlier on in any war, or lose them.
The Supreme Court gives police immunity from deaths caused by reckless police chases even if they display reckless disregard or deliberate indifference to life. You can sue them if you can prove intent to run you over. The Court's rationale is that decisions have to be made really really quickly. Oh, good. How long does it take to pull a trigger? Actually, cops kill more people each year by running them over than by shooting them.
Even stupider: the Supremes let stand South Carolina's interpretation of life as beginning at the viability of the fetus for purposes of child endangerment laws.
California primary: People, let's remember that it's a primary. The Bay Guardian brilliantly endorses the Green party candidate for governor. Well, maybe he's great, maybe I'll even wind up voting for him in November. But the Greens only have one candidate running for governor, so a vote for him truly is a wasted vote. When you choose candidates, keep in mind that they're not running against the fifty others on the ballot, just those from their own party. So go out and do some mischief with your vote, like the open primary was intended for. If you can find a Democrat with an ounce of integrity, vote for them. Or vote for Dennis Peron to annoy Darth Lungren.
The only joke I remember from Will Durst's special last night: Kenneth Starr is like a cat that keeps dragging stuff into the house that we don't want to see. "Oh good, a dead mouse."
According to the Press Clips section of the Village Voice, India's nuclear tests were not only a surprise to the CIA, but to the news media, which had almost uniformly missed the BJP's election manifesto promise to do so. Of course I read the British papers, and they actually give a shit about what goes on in the sub-continent even without someone hitting them over the head with a nuclear hammer.
Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif: "We paid them back." Pakistan immediately declares a state of emergency and suspends all press freedom and civil rights (I just read a Pakistani newspaper. They didn't know what to do with press freedom anyway) to deal with the upcoming sanctions. And just as the shit is about to hit the fans of the world stock markets again. Bad timing. Well they didn't need civil rights, and India didn't need electricity (the World Bank has suspended loans for electrification).
Of course we all knew that Pakistan was a nuclear power. They are not only not more of a nuclear power today than they were yesterday, but they are less of one, since they just wasted about half of their weapons-grade uranium. Our nuclear non-proliferation policy is evidently based on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell principle.
So how are these nuclear powers different from all other nuclear powers? If mutual assured destruction was good enough for Europe, why not for India? For a start, the warning time is way too short. It'll be like a permanent Cuban Missile Crisis. Second, there aren't enough nukes to make nuclear war unthinkable. Maybe we need to make sure that Pakistan gets the uranium it needs? In the last few years the Indian military has been increasing its superiority over Pakistan, which means that Pakistani thinking has increasingly been that Paki nukes would be used to prevent conventional attacks from India (just like those going on in Kashmir the last few days). They would probably have to anyway, as Indian air superiority means it could quickly shut down the Pakistani ability to get its Mirages into the air--Pakistan would either have to use its nukes earlier on in any war, or lose them.
The Supreme Court gives police immunity from deaths caused by reckless police chases even if they display reckless disregard or deliberate indifference to life. You can sue them if you can prove intent to run you over. The Court's rationale is that decisions have to be made really really quickly. Oh, good. How long does it take to pull a trigger? Actually, cops kill more people each year by running them over than by shooting them.
Even stupider: the Supremes let stand South Carolina's interpretation of life as beginning at the viability of the fetus for purposes of child endangerment laws.
California primary: People, let's remember that it's a primary. The Bay Guardian brilliantly endorses the Green party candidate for governor. Well, maybe he's great, maybe I'll even wind up voting for him in November. But the Greens only have one candidate running for governor, so a vote for him truly is a wasted vote. When you choose candidates, keep in mind that they're not running against the fifty others on the ballot, just those from their own party. So go out and do some mischief with your vote, like the open primary was intended for. If you can find a Democrat with an ounce of integrity, vote for them. Or vote for Dennis Peron to annoy Darth Lungren.
Monday, May 25, 1998
Thursday, May 21, 1998
Wednesday, May 20, 1998
Watching C-SPAN earlier today, I heard Tom DeLay ask for an end to partisan attacks in the investigation of campaign contributions to Clinton who, he had just finished saying, had by selling satellite technology to the Chinese in response to contributions, caused India to test its nuclear weapons and Pakistan to respond, and thereby to threaten the lives of everybody on the planet.
I'm not exaggerating any of that.
India has already threatened Pakistan with nukes over Kashmir.
Milosevic, having sent troops into Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo in turn, is now thinking about Montenegro. Hey, it worked so well in the past.
Someone at the LA Times wrote that the only way to get LA tv stations to cover the governor's race would be for the candidates to get into four cars and chase each other up and down the San Diego Freeway. May I recommend the Ford Pinto?
I'm not exaggerating any of that.
India has already threatened Pakistan with nukes over Kashmir.
Milosevic, having sent troops into Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo in turn, is now thinking about Montenegro. Hey, it worked so well in the past.
Someone at the LA Times wrote that the only way to get LA tv stations to cover the governor's race would be for the candidates to get into four cars and chase each other up and down the San Diego Freeway. May I recommend the Ford Pinto?
Friday, May 15, 1998
Two die in blast at gnome plant
The California Supreme Court rules that a single crime can generate more than one strike for the 3 strikes law. The example given is that carjacking is usually prosecuted as both robbery and kidnapping. In the case involved, the guy was in a fight 15 years ago (strikes 1 & 2), and is now convicted of stealing a carton of cigarettes. The brand isn't given, but in a perfect universe, they would be Lucky Strikes.
According to Wisconsin doctors, a poorly-drafted partial birth abortion law has outlawed all abortions in the state. Legislators disagree, but no abortions are now being performed, doctors not being willing to risk life imprisonment.
Why the hell is Clinton in Germany campaigning for Helmut Kohl?
Israel celebrates its 50th anniversary by shooting 9 Palestinians dead. I guess it wasn't a big enough cake to have 50.
Does anyone actually feel sad that Seinfeld is no longer on the air?
Warsaw: Two young men died in an explosion at a Polish garden gnome factory, PAP news agency reported. Three other people were injured in the blast at the plant in Kozuchow, western Poland, it said. A police spokeswoman said paint fumes might be to blame. (Reuters)
The California Supreme Court rules that a single crime can generate more than one strike for the 3 strikes law. The example given is that carjacking is usually prosecuted as both robbery and kidnapping. In the case involved, the guy was in a fight 15 years ago (strikes 1 & 2), and is now convicted of stealing a carton of cigarettes. The brand isn't given, but in a perfect universe, they would be Lucky Strikes.
According to Wisconsin doctors, a poorly-drafted partial birth abortion law has outlawed all abortions in the state. Legislators disagree, but no abortions are now being performed, doctors not being willing to risk life imprisonment.
Why the hell is Clinton in Germany campaigning for Helmut Kohl?
Israel celebrates its 50th anniversary by shooting 9 Palestinians dead. I guess it wasn't a big enough cake to have 50.
Does anyone actually feel sad that Seinfeld is no longer on the air?
Wednesday, May 13, 1998
That Chinese law professor will not be deported from the US for slapping his kid--he has pleaded to a lesser charge.
Jon Christensen did not win the primary to become governor of Nebraska but came in 3rd, despite all the stories I read which said that he was the front-runner. He cried.
I KNEW RONALD REAGAN: Estrada seems to have won the Philippines presidential elections. Yeah, he's a drinker and a gambler and has several illegitimate children, but he was a famous Filipino actor. I think he played a motorcycle cop or something (joke).
A New York judge returns a 5-year old to his mother, who killed her other kid, an 18-month old, for spilling her dinner, and then tried to blame it on the other kid. She's served her full 9 months and the judge thinks she's shown enough remorse to have a shot at killing the other one. I'll say one thing: that kid is going to have the best table manners in New York.
A couple of years ago, there was a story by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker to the effect that India and Pakistan had come very close a couple of years before that to a nuclear war. Nice to know that next time, they'll be doing it with fully tested weapons. Or not. The US claims that India's claim to have detonated an H-bomb Monday is a lie. The country of Gandhi has no dissenters to the nuclear policy. A petition in support of the testing was signed in Bombay by over 100,000 so far. Signed in blood. Their own, for once.
Jon Christensen did not win the primary to become governor of Nebraska but came in 3rd, despite all the stories I read which said that he was the front-runner. He cried.
I KNEW RONALD REAGAN: Estrada seems to have won the Philippines presidential elections. Yeah, he's a drinker and a gambler and has several illegitimate children, but he was a famous Filipino actor. I think he played a motorcycle cop or something (joke).
A New York judge returns a 5-year old to his mother, who killed her other kid, an 18-month old, for spilling her dinner, and then tried to blame it on the other kid. She's served her full 9 months and the judge thinks she's shown enough remorse to have a shot at killing the other one. I'll say one thing: that kid is going to have the best table manners in New York.
A couple of years ago, there was a story by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker to the effect that India and Pakistan had come very close a couple of years before that to a nuclear war. Nice to know that next time, they'll be doing it with fully tested weapons. Or not. The US claims that India's claim to have detonated an H-bomb Monday is a lie. The country of Gandhi has no dissenters to the nuclear policy. A petition in support of the testing was signed in Bombay by over 100,000 so far. Signed in blood. Their own, for once.
Monday, May 11, 1998
South Africa and Rhode Island both legalize sodomy. There's a joke in there somewhere.
Guatemala celebrates getting off a UN list of human rights violators by beating a bishop to death with a concrete block. In a move typical of Guatemalan efficiency, the guy they're trying to frame as the lone, um, concrete-man, turns out to have a deformed arm that leaves him unable to lift concrete blocks.
Guatemala celebrates getting off a UN list of human rights violators by beating a bishop to death with a concrete block. In a move typical of Guatemalan efficiency, the guy they're trying to frame as the lone, um, concrete-man, turns out to have a deformed arm that leaves him unable to lift concrete blocks.
Saturday, May 09, 1998
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that the IRA had shot a 79-year old man in both knees and both ankles. Seems they got the wrong address. Oops.
"I'm not only the president of impotence pills for men, but I'm also a member": gee, Bob, thanks for sharing. Or as Liddy used to say, "Where's the erection, Bob, where's the erection?" And all this time he's been living right next door to a famous practitioner of the felatalic arts. There must be a joke in there somewhere but coitate si cognito (fuck if I know).
Some immigrants from China slapped their 8-year old for lying and will appear in family court in Chicago Monday. If convicted, they will automatically be deported, thanks to the 1996 Immigration Act.
In yesterday's local elections, the people of London voted to have an elected mayor. This looks to be a very silly race. Jeffrey Archer, who evidently can't read any better than he can write, is studying up on the subject of the city he hopes to lead into the millennium by reading the *London Encyclopedia* -- one page per day. By far the most popular choice is the one Tony Blair is desperately trying to figure out how to block from running and still be able to use that annoying "we trust the people" line: Ken Livingston, or Red Ken to his friends, was last seen running the Greater London Council until Thatcher abolished it just to be rid of him. He's calling for a special greedy bastard tax. His words, not mine. Not very "New Labour".
Jon Christensen (R-Palookaville), generally regarded as the stupidest man in the US Congress, is front-runner to become the next governor of Nebraska. His platform consists of a promise never to hire a homosexual and that his fiancé is a former Miss America and is a virgin.
"I'm not only the president of impotence pills for men, but I'm also a member": gee, Bob, thanks for sharing. Or as Liddy used to say, "Where's the erection, Bob, where's the erection?" And all this time he's been living right next door to a famous practitioner of the felatalic arts. There must be a joke in there somewhere but coitate si cognito (fuck if I know).
Some immigrants from China slapped their 8-year old for lying and will appear in family court in Chicago Monday. If convicted, they will automatically be deported, thanks to the 1996 Immigration Act.
In yesterday's local elections, the people of London voted to have an elected mayor. This looks to be a very silly race. Jeffrey Archer, who evidently can't read any better than he can write, is studying up on the subject of the city he hopes to lead into the millennium by reading the *London Encyclopedia* -- one page per day. By far the most popular choice is the one Tony Blair is desperately trying to figure out how to block from running and still be able to use that annoying "we trust the people" line: Ken Livingston, or Red Ken to his friends, was last seen running the Greater London Council until Thatcher abolished it just to be rid of him. He's calling for a special greedy bastard tax. His words, not mine. Not very "New Labour".
Jon Christensen (R-Palookaville), generally regarded as the stupidest man in the US Congress, is front-runner to become the next governor of Nebraska. His platform consists of a promise never to hire a homosexual and that his fiancé is a former Miss America and is a virgin.
Tuesday, May 05, 1998
Merrian-Webster refuses to bow to pressure to remove "nigger" from the dictionary.
Namibia and Botswana are moving towards war. Over a tiny uninhabited marsh island submerged several months a year.
Alabama Governor Fob "Crazy as a Fruitcake and Twice as Stupid" James has filed before the Supreme Court on the 10-Commandments-in-the-courtroom case, saying that government officials should ignore Supreme Court decisions they consider unconstitutional. Also says that Sandra Day O'Connor's agnostic beliefs have caused her to closer her mind to the fact that abortion is murder. So there.
Cockroach hunt turns into lottery
Tucson, Arizona: In a publicity stunt, a pest control company has released 100 cockroaches with barcodes on their bellies. Whoever catches the roach with the winning number will win $50,000 (#31,000) while $100 will go to anyone who tracks down any of the remaining 99. The company admits that the odds are not great as there are more than a million roaches in Tucson. (Reuters)
Namibia and Botswana are moving towards war. Over a tiny uninhabited marsh island submerged several months a year.
Alabama Governor Fob "Crazy as a Fruitcake and Twice as Stupid" James has filed before the Supreme Court on the 10-Commandments-in-the-courtroom case, saying that government officials should ignore Supreme Court decisions they consider unconstitutional. Also says that Sandra Day O'Connor's agnostic beliefs have caused her to closer her mind to the fact that abortion is murder. So there.
Cockroach hunt turns into lottery
Tucson, Arizona: In a publicity stunt, a pest control company has released 100 cockroaches with barcodes on their bellies. Whoever catches the roach with the winning number will win $50,000 (#31,000) while $100 will go to anyone who tracks down any of the remaining 99. The company admits that the odds are not great as there are more than a million roaches in Tucson. (Reuters)
With all the talk about the procedure to kill off all cancers, at least in mice, no one has answered the one question I want answers to. Who collected the mouse pee? The tests involved gallons and gallons of the stuff, so who was it who made them go in the little itty bitty botttles?
The head of the pope's Swiss guard is murdered. There has to be an interesting story there. Evidently, the Vatican doesn't have a very high murder rate. So the first one in 150 years, and its the head of the cops (and his wife).
In Clinton's stupidest and most spineless cave-in since the last one, he has agreed to let Senator Slade Gorton name a far-right judge to the 9th Circuit and generally take over the power to appoint judges in Washington state. By the way, if anyone knows anything about Barbara Durham, the current chief justice of Wash Sup Court and soon to be 9th Circuiter, do pass it on.
Speaking of idiots who shouldn't be allowed the power to veto nominees made by their betters, have you all been following the wrangling over the first head of the EU's central bank? The term was supposed to be 8 years for reasons of continuity and to stay above politics, so France only agreed not to veto the unanimous choice of everybody else if he'd resign after 4 years in favor of a Frog, who would have a full 8-year term (for reasons of continuity and to keep the office above politics, of course). The only contribution the French have hitherto made in EU financial policy was to appoint a commission that decided that "euro" is masculine, le euro, not l'euro. We'll all sleep better at nights knowing that one is settled. This means that euros can be created from a standing position (euros in Greek means urine) (Greece is not joining monetary union, so it won't have to worry for a while yet about jokes about keeping your assets liquid).
I've gotten my sample ballot. Vote yes no yes no no no no no no
The head of the pope's Swiss guard is murdered. There has to be an interesting story there. Evidently, the Vatican doesn't have a very high murder rate. So the first one in 150 years, and its the head of the cops (and his wife).
In Clinton's stupidest and most spineless cave-in since the last one, he has agreed to let Senator Slade Gorton name a far-right judge to the 9th Circuit and generally take over the power to appoint judges in Washington state. By the way, if anyone knows anything about Barbara Durham, the current chief justice of Wash Sup Court and soon to be 9th Circuiter, do pass it on.
Speaking of idiots who shouldn't be allowed the power to veto nominees made by their betters, have you all been following the wrangling over the first head of the EU's central bank? The term was supposed to be 8 years for reasons of continuity and to stay above politics, so France only agreed not to veto the unanimous choice of everybody else if he'd resign after 4 years in favor of a Frog, who would have a full 8-year term (for reasons of continuity and to keep the office above politics, of course). The only contribution the French have hitherto made in EU financial policy was to appoint a commission that decided that "euro" is masculine, le euro, not l'euro. We'll all sleep better at nights knowing that one is settled. This means that euros can be created from a standing position (euros in Greek means urine) (Greece is not joining monetary union, so it won't have to worry for a while yet about jokes about keeping your assets liquid).
I've gotten my sample ballot. Vote yes no yes no no no no no no
Friday, May 01, 1998
Bad news for Filipino stand-up comics: Imelda Marcos has dropped out of the presidential race.
The British government decides not to pardon deserters shot during World War I.
Those Colombians who protested working conditions by having themselves crucified were up there for 50 hours. And won their strike.
Gingrich says he won't allow a vote on funding for the IMF unless the Democrats agree to grant immunity to 4 witnesses on campaign finance issues. Well, it may seem irrelevant, but this is nothing compared to the dozens of amendments stuck on to a bill to pay UN back dues.
The British government decides not to pardon deserters shot during World War I.
Those Colombians who protested working conditions by having themselves crucified were up there for 50 hours. And won their strike.
Gingrich says he won't allow a vote on funding for the IMF unless the Democrats agree to grant immunity to 4 witnesses on campaign finance issues. Well, it may seem irrelevant, but this is nothing compared to the dozens of amendments stuck on to a bill to pay UN back dues.
Monday, April 27, 1998
Dick Armey asked why to give a reason for opposing the tobacco bill: "No, I can't." Why not? "Because I don't want to." The #2 leader of the House of Representatives, ladies and gentleman!
Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions (R-KKK), the rejected appeals court judge and now on the Judiciary Committee, has been know to ask nominees "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the ACLU?"
Best phrase for Starr et al: "The scandal-industrial complex."
Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee accuses environmentalists of worshipping the earth and not god.
China is trying to clone pandas, which as we all know don't breed well in captivity, and China has pretty much destroyed their natural habitat, and they only go into heat once a year anyway. Still, even I know that when the gene pool is as shallow as it is for this species, cloning is just gonna make it shallower.
I trust everyone followed the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt this weekend. The rabidly racist German People's Union (DVU), which didn't even exist a couple of years ago, won 13%, entirely at the expense of the Christian Democrats. The good news is that with Kohl's support evidently having collapsed in the ex-East Germany, he should be voted out of office nationally in a few months time, and the nation's bed-testers will have an easier job of it. The bad news is that democracy has entirely failed to take root in East Germany, which only ever voted for the ChristDems to get loot and jobs, which never materialized. A full one-fourth of first-time voters went for the DVU. That's a lot of skin heads.
According to Molly Ivins, Canada's national motto is "Let's not get excited." For once, Ivins is quite wide of the mark. Canada's motto is actually "Let's not get excited, eh?"
Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions (R-KKK), the rejected appeals court judge and now on the Judiciary Committee, has been know to ask nominees "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the ACLU?"
Best phrase for Starr et al: "The scandal-industrial complex."
Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee accuses environmentalists of worshipping the earth and not god.
China is trying to clone pandas, which as we all know don't breed well in captivity, and China has pretty much destroyed their natural habitat, and they only go into heat once a year anyway. Still, even I know that when the gene pool is as shallow as it is for this species, cloning is just gonna make it shallower.
I trust everyone followed the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt this weekend. The rabidly racist German People's Union (DVU), which didn't even exist a couple of years ago, won 13%, entirely at the expense of the Christian Democrats. The good news is that with Kohl's support evidently having collapsed in the ex-East Germany, he should be voted out of office nationally in a few months time, and the nation's bed-testers will have an easier job of it. The bad news is that democracy has entirely failed to take root in East Germany, which only ever voted for the ChristDems to get loot and jobs, which never materialized. A full one-fourth of first-time voters went for the DVU. That's a lot of skin heads.
According to Molly Ivins, Canada's national motto is "Let's not get excited." For once, Ivins is quite wide of the mark. Canada's motto is actually "Let's not get excited, eh?"
Saturday, April 25, 1998
The British Labour party has started giving potential candidates for local councils literacy and math tests. Not everyone is passing.
Stupid website of the week: www.lindatripp.com. See if you are inspired to give money to this poor beleaguered woman.
Imelda Marcos has signed to do commercials for Harvey Nichols's new shoe departments.
British zoos and wildlife parks are selling off ostriches, bison, wild boar etc to be sold (or bred) as exotic food.
In Britain, a 92-year old is divorcing his wife of 70 years. No, the children are not dead.
I said the Asian economic situation would produce racism, but it gets worse. Malaysia has started poisoning the water of the refugee camps it interns Indonesians in. The sweep is subtly named Operation Go Away.
Stupid website of the week: www.lindatripp.com. See if you are inspired to give money to this poor beleaguered woman.
Imelda Marcos has signed to do commercials for Harvey Nichols's new shoe departments.
British zoos and wildlife parks are selling off ostriches, bison, wild boar etc to be sold (or bred) as exotic food.
In Britain, a 92-year old is divorcing his wife of 70 years. No, the children are not dead.
I said the Asian economic situation would produce racism, but it gets worse. Malaysia has started poisoning the water of the refugee camps it interns Indonesians in. The sweep is subtly named Operation Go Away.
Friday, April 24, 1998
The IRA has displayed its commitment to peace and nonviolence by shooting a 79-year old in both kneecaps and both ankles.
The famed Washington Correspondents Dinner will air Saturday afternoon on C-SPAN. Everyone will be watching because Paula Jones and Billy Bob Bubba will both be there.
Favorite headline in today's London Times: "Oriental Elvis Impersonators Attacked Diners".
The IRA has displayed its commitment to peace and nonviolence by shooting a 79-year old in both kneecaps and both ankles.
The famed Washington Correspondents Dinner will air Saturday afternoon on C-SPAN. Everyone will be watching because Paula Jones and Billy Bob Bubba will both be there.
Favorite headline in today's London Times: "Oriental Elvis Impersonators Attacked Diners".
The IRA has displayed its commitment to peace and nonviolence by shooting a 79-year old in both kneecaps and both ankles.
Thursday, April 23, 1998
The pope says that the end of the world is not nigh, so far as he knows. I know I'll sleep better tonight.
Texas screws up a lethal injection. So the guy gets two sets of last words. Neither of them interesting.
A new book says that pirates were actually democratic, not especially violent (only one documented instance of someone being made to walk the plank), multi-racial, egalitarian, and all that other good '90s stuff.
In a few hours, the big show-down in the Russian Duma. To recap, the boy wonder Yeltsin appointed as Prime Minister only needed to be named because Yeltsin never bothered to read the constitution under which he allegedly operates, and thought he could fill the position himself. If the Duma rejects him a 3rd time, which seems to depend on whether or not they can vote secretly, Yeltsin gets to dissolve the Duma, at which point he has threatened to have all its members evicted from their Moscow flats, which means eviction from Moscow, since the mayor, who doesn't believe in the constitution either, retains Soviet-era residency permits. Yeltsin also plans to unconstitutionally rewrite the election laws in the absence of the Duma, and the puppet he named to head the electoral commission has threatened to keep all existing parties out of the elections. The Communists don't want early elections, but they don't want to try to face the electorate in a year having given in to Yeltsin now. Childish, vindictive, petty, calculating, arrogant: I think they've finally mastered the principles of democracy.
That couple in marriage counselling in Fresno: you have to question how seriously they were trying to make it work when they both came packing heat.
Of the major candidates running for governor of California, Harman, Checchi and Lungren have never had any children in the public school system (Davis has no children). Do they at least buy lottery tickets?
Texas screws up a lethal injection. So the guy gets two sets of last words. Neither of them interesting.
A new book says that pirates were actually democratic, not especially violent (only one documented instance of someone being made to walk the plank), multi-racial, egalitarian, and all that other good '90s stuff.
In a few hours, the big show-down in the Russian Duma. To recap, the boy wonder Yeltsin appointed as Prime Minister only needed to be named because Yeltsin never bothered to read the constitution under which he allegedly operates, and thought he could fill the position himself. If the Duma rejects him a 3rd time, which seems to depend on whether or not they can vote secretly, Yeltsin gets to dissolve the Duma, at which point he has threatened to have all its members evicted from their Moscow flats, which means eviction from Moscow, since the mayor, who doesn't believe in the constitution either, retains Soviet-era residency permits. Yeltsin also plans to unconstitutionally rewrite the election laws in the absence of the Duma, and the puppet he named to head the electoral commission has threatened to keep all existing parties out of the elections. The Communists don't want early elections, but they don't want to try to face the electorate in a year having given in to Yeltsin now. Childish, vindictive, petty, calculating, arrogant: I think they've finally mastered the principles of democracy.
That couple in marriage counselling in Fresno: you have to question how seriously they were trying to make it work when they both came packing heat.
Of the major candidates running for governor of California, Harman, Checchi and Lungren have never had any children in the public school system (Davis has no children). Do they at least buy lottery tickets?
Tuesday, April 21, 1998
Gingrich says Joe Camel isn't so bad, but Leonardo DiCaprio is to blame, for smoking in Titanic. I agree, let's castrate Leo.
Rep Dan Burton calls Clinton a "scumbag", and will release Webster Hubbell's prison phone conversations, which would be illegal for anyone else to do.
Crappy Georgian history professors fight to the death: Gingrich may face a challenge for his seat by Christina Jeffrey, who he once appointed House Historian, until her remarks in favor of equal rights for the views of Nazis in educational programs about the Holocaust came to light.
In Miami, police hauled a 10-year old boy to jail because he kicked his mother in a restaurant, charged with domestic battery. The cops say that the domestic violence law required the arrest.
China bans door to door salesmen, fearing that Mary Kay and Amway are ideological cults run by charismatic leaders.
Rep Dan Burton calls Clinton a "scumbag", and will release Webster Hubbell's prison phone conversations, which would be illegal for anyone else to do.
Crappy Georgian history professors fight to the death: Gingrich may face a challenge for his seat by Christina Jeffrey, who he once appointed House Historian, until her remarks in favor of equal rights for the views of Nazis in educational programs about the Holocaust came to light.
In Miami, police hauled a 10-year old boy to jail because he kicked his mother in a restaurant, charged with domestic battery. The cops say that the domestic violence law required the arrest.
China bans door to door salesmen, fearing that Mary Kay and Amway are ideological cults run by charismatic leaders.
Delaware driver's licenses are to indicate sex offenders. You know, to show that drivers have to wear corrective lenses, not have a child in the trunk, that sort of thing.
California leg. fails to repeal the old law letting state and local governments fire members of the Communist Party. The impressive thing is that there are still Republicans willing to support it.
Netanyahu agrees to meet with Arafat. At the same time, he invites into government the Moledet party, which supports the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
For those following the love life of the rhino named Frikkie who lives just outside Kruger Park in South Africa, you will be delighted to learn that he has finally successfully mated with a member of his own species, after squashing several zebras.
With all the panic about pervs in schools, California now requires fingerprints, as do many other states, no doubt soon to be all of them. The problem with this is that not everyone has fingerprints. Recently fired: a social studies teacher with atopic dermatitis. But anyone who has worked with harsh cleaning supplies and such like chemicals might have the same problem. Simple solution, I'd have thought: ear prints.
California leg. fails to repeal the old law letting state and local governments fire members of the Communist Party. The impressive thing is that there are still Republicans willing to support it.
Netanyahu agrees to meet with Arafat. At the same time, he invites into government the Moledet party, which supports the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
For those following the love life of the rhino named Frikkie who lives just outside Kruger Park in South Africa, you will be delighted to learn that he has finally successfully mated with a member of his own species, after squashing several zebras.
With all the panic about pervs in schools, California now requires fingerprints, as do many other states, no doubt soon to be all of them. The problem with this is that not everyone has fingerprints. Recently fired: a social studies teacher with atopic dermatitis. But anyone who has worked with harsh cleaning supplies and such like chemicals might have the same problem. Simple solution, I'd have thought: ear prints.
Monday, April 20, 1998
Good things fall from the sky
Bernard Lewinsky in LA Times interview about daughter Monica: "She's a very smart, intelligent, beautiful girl who's going to go places, and
unfortunately she's taking her licks...."
And giving them.
Mississississississippi state rep. Bobby Moak (R-Taliban) proposes a law for people caught with marijuana to face "the removal of a body part in lieu of other sentences imposed by the court for violations of the Controlled Substances Law", the specific body part to be chosen by negotiation.
unfortunately she's taking her licks...."
And giving them.
Mississississississippi state rep. Bobby Moak (R-Taliban) proposes a law for people caught with marijuana to face "the removal of a body part in lieu of other sentences imposed by the court for violations of the Controlled Substances Law", the specific body part to be chosen by negotiation.
Sunday, April 19, 1998
Russian irony
Sarov is one of those old Soviet closed cities that doesn't appear on maps. There are still closed cities, which in practice means that no visitors are allowed, all phone calls are monitored, and the place is surrounded by a fence and heavily guarded. Sarov is where the a- and h-bombs were developed and now has a population of 80,000. Liberals in the Duma proposed opening it up, but the residents decided that given the way the rest of Russia is going, they would just as soon keep the barbed wire fence, thank you very much. The lesson is that good fences, interior ministry troops, gun emplacements, internal passports, and restricted rail access, make good neighbors.
Saturday, April 18, 1998
A miracle of technology that I first heard of a year or two ago: the self-chilling soda can. You activate it and two minutes later the contents are cold. Is that great or what? Unfortunately, any widespread use would have turned the Earth's atmosphere into something resembling that of Venus very quickly, but they have changed the coolant. It can also be used on ice cream. Did you know 1 trillion soda cans are sold every year?
In the race for the bottom, a Texas state legislator proposes a bill to execute 11-year olds.
Speaking of dead children, guess what Renault uses to test car safety?
The answer is dead children, it wasn't a trick question.
The archbishop of Turin says that any priest who visits the Shroud of Turin can absolve women for abortion, which normally requires excommunication. I'll never understand the Catholic church. A get out of hell free card as a promotional item for a tourist attraction.
In the race for the bottom, a Texas state legislator proposes a bill to execute 11-year olds.
Speaking of dead children, guess what Renault uses to test car safety?
The answer is dead children, it wasn't a trick question.
The archbishop of Turin says that any priest who visits the Shroud of Turin can absolve women for abortion, which normally requires excommunication. I'll never understand the Catholic church. A get out of hell free card as a promotional item for a tourist attraction.
Thursday, April 16, 1998
Pol Pot is dead, and we really mean it this time. Fortunately, if the war crimes tribunal is looking for a suitable subject, Henry Kissinger, who just this week talked about "the so-called bombing of Cambodia", is still alive.
Virginia executed a Paraguayan in violation of the Vienna Convention. The State Department says it has in fact provided the proper remedy to Paraguay: it has apologized and promised that it may not happen again, unless it does.
One of the escapees from the Bay of Pigs admits having eaten another, while lost at sea. Insert your own joke here relating "Bay of Pigs" to "the other white meat".
The Christian Right is lining up behind Senator John Ashcroft as its candidate for president in 2000. Keep an eye out.
The NY Times has a story about Idaho on today's front page, which shows how big a news day this was. The capitol of Republicanism and child abuse of the US. There's not much crime, but they're still sending a lot of people to jail--just mostly people who didn't do anything much.
NY Times headline reports that, after bits of Yankee Stadium fell down, "Yankees Are on First at Shea/ And the World Doesn't End"
Virginia executed a Paraguayan in violation of the Vienna Convention. The State Department says it has in fact provided the proper remedy to Paraguay: it has apologized and promised that it may not happen again, unless it does.
One of the escapees from the Bay of Pigs admits having eaten another, while lost at sea. Insert your own joke here relating "Bay of Pigs" to "the other white meat".
The Christian Right is lining up behind Senator John Ashcroft as its candidate for president in 2000. Keep an eye out.
The NY Times has a story about Idaho on today's front page, which shows how big a news day this was. The capitol of Republicanism and child abuse of the US. There's not much crime, but they're still sending a lot of people to jail--just mostly people who didn't do anything much.
NY Times headline reports that, after bits of Yankee Stadium fell down, "Yankees Are on First at Shea/ And the World Doesn't End"
Saturday, April 11, 1998
Concrete submarines and other scientific marvels
You think I'm kidding about the concrete submarine, don't you? No no no. Today's London Sunday Times, besides going over every piddling detail of the failed Irish peace accord (just thought I'd be the first to use that phrase), has been dominated by the Wonders of Science and the Horrors of Medicine.
First, a couple of items that don't fit into my theme: a Japanese POW who has been in Siberia since 1945 went back home this week. Evidently, no one ever bothered trying to find them after the last (in theory) batch was released in 1956.
China has been developing a practice of investigative journalism, at least in Guangdong province. The up-side: sometimes their stories get people executed, like an official who hit-and-ran, thinking he could get away with it. Woodward and Bernstein, eat your hearts out.
In the twenty or so years after WW II, Sweden, previously known for sterilizing the retarded, also had an official but illegal program of lobotomizing mental patients, including children, without getting relatives' permission. Maybe 4,500.
South Africa has its first white witch doctor.
The first transplant of a genetically manipulated pig heart into a human will occur in Israel. Yes, yes, I know, but evidently it is kosher.
A British company is selling a motorcycle capable of going 225 mph. They won't say why.
A popular science book is reviewed in the Times, called "Why Is Sex Fun?"
Russian nuclear power plants. The Y2K bug. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Bored Saudi princesses, stuck in palaces but whose bills are paid by the taxpayers (and there are 5,000 princes and princesses!), have found an escape: internet chat rooms. Of course Saudi Arabia has no internet provider, so they dial up London or the US, so it's a bit pricey.
I promised concrete submarines, here they are:
First, a couple of items that don't fit into my theme: a Japanese POW who has been in Siberia since 1945 went back home this week. Evidently, no one ever bothered trying to find them after the last (in theory) batch was released in 1956.
China has been developing a practice of investigative journalism, at least in Guangdong province. The up-side: sometimes their stories get people executed, like an official who hit-and-ran, thinking he could get away with it. Woodward and Bernstein, eat your hearts out.
In the twenty or so years after WW II, Sweden, previously known for sterilizing the retarded, also had an official but illegal program of lobotomizing mental patients, including children, without getting relatives' permission. Maybe 4,500.
South Africa has its first white witch doctor.
The first transplant of a genetically manipulated pig heart into a human will occur in Israel. Yes, yes, I know, but evidently it is kosher.
A British company is selling a motorcycle capable of going 225 mph. They won't say why.
A popular science book is reviewed in the Times, called "Why Is Sex Fun?"
Russian nuclear power plants. The Y2K bug. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Bored Saudi princesses, stuck in palaces but whose bills are paid by the taxpayers (and there are 5,000 princes and princesses!), have found an escape: internet chat rooms. Of course Saudi Arabia has no internet provider, so they dial up London or the US, so it's a bit pricey.
I promised concrete submarines, here they are:
The Sunday Times
Sunday April 12 1998 NEWS: BRITAIN
Russia makes waves with concrete sub
by Hugh McManners
IT floats like a brick but stings like a bee. The Russian navy is developing a concrete submarine that is designed to master the waves by sitting on the ocean floor.
The heavier-than-water submarines will lie at hitherto impossible depths and attack surface vessels with vertically fired torpedoes. Their concrete hulls and silent propulsion systems will make them invisible to sonar, while their angle of fire from the sea bed will allow them to cover swathes of ocean above.
Defence sources say they believe the Russians are close to perfecting the c-subs, as they are known in industry circles, and may already have launched test vessels. The craft, which are based on 30-year-old designs for underwater aircraft, could revolutionise marine warfare.
The most robust of conventional submarines can only submerge to 1,800 feet because of the high water pressure exerted on their steel hulls. They are also buoyant and submerge themselves only by filling their internal tanks with water.
C-subs, however, will descend to the deepest ocean beds under their own weight where they will operate as silent predators. External "listening pods" will detect the movement of surface craft and target them with torpedoes.
The c-subs move like jet aircraft, with wings that create "lift" when the vessels move forward. The jets can be rotated to provide lift from the sea floor using swivelling nozzles similar to those on Harrier jump jets.
The battery-powered engines are modelled on gas turbines, sucking in water at the front before forcing it out at the back under high pressure, creating thrust. The batteries will be stored in the concrete hull: unlike conventional submarines there is no weight limit, so large numbers of cells can be carried.
The c-subs will use a minimal crew, who will operate in cabins the size of a minibus. The craft would be expected to hunt in "wolf packs", rather like the German U-boats during the second world war, using the most advanced weapons technology available.
Sources at Dera, Britain's military research establishment, say the Russians have also made and tested a torpedo which can travel three times faster than the Royal Navy's weapons.
Codenamed Shkval, the torpedo uses drag reduction technology to travel at 200 knots (230mph), making it virtually undetectable and giving ships under attack no time to take evasive action. The drag reduction is achieved by using engine power to aerate the water in front of the torpedo so that it flies through air bubbles rather than water. This greatly reduces the drag of the water, enabling extremely high speeds.
This technology could be applied to the concrete submarines themselves, allowing them to break the 60-knot speed barrier of conventional undersea vessels.
The idea for concrete submarines that fly like aircraft was developed and patented by Heinz Lipschutz, a German marine engineer, between 1957 and the late 1980s. He said he repeatedly tried to interest the Royal Navy in the concept, but instead was disappointed to see his ideas developed by German and Russian naval architects.
Julian Nettlefold, editor of Battlespace, the international defence electronics newsletter, said Britain was in danger of becoming outgunned underwater. "Other countries such as Germany, Russia and America are pushing ahead with research into this exciting concept. With these craft being potentially so cheap to make, there is the danger of countries such as Iran and Libya using them to threaten American carrier groups, or to barricade certain ocean routes," he said.
"It's a shame that Britain has failed to take this idea seriously."
Friday, April 10, 1998
The World Court has intervened in a US criminal case for the first time. Virginia is about to execute a Paraguayan citizen contrary to a US-Paraguay treaty. Virginia, of course, does not care.
California is trying to execute a crazy man. Now if he does get sent to an institution instead, shouldn't any psychiatrists attending him be subject to losing their licenses, like doctors who participate in lethal injections, since any cure would result in execution?
In an orgy of self-delusion, a Northern Ireland "Easter Peace" is signed. How this worked is that a whole array of new bodies will be set up, giving every party to the accord something to undermine, like children happily breaking their new toys on Christmas Day. The assembly will create an executive at which, presumably, Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley are expected to sit at the same table. The people I feel sorry for are the Welsh and Jerseyans who have to be on the Council. Since the Unionists wouldn't have accepted a council with just Irish and North Irish representatives, Blair drafted in members of the Welsh assembly, the Scottish parliament, and the whatever they call thems of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Blair tried to call this the Council of the British Isles, but the Irish objected to the word British, so they'll have to have endless debates about a better name. Meanwhile, to show how well peace is taking effect, the IRA conducted two kneecappings yesterday and a new wall is being built to separate Catholics and Protestants in north Belfast.
California is trying to execute a crazy man. Now if he does get sent to an institution instead, shouldn't any psychiatrists attending him be subject to losing their licenses, like doctors who participate in lethal injections, since any cure would result in execution?
In an orgy of self-delusion, a Northern Ireland "Easter Peace" is signed. How this worked is that a whole array of new bodies will be set up, giving every party to the accord something to undermine, like children happily breaking their new toys on Christmas Day. The assembly will create an executive at which, presumably, Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley are expected to sit at the same table. The people I feel sorry for are the Welsh and Jerseyans who have to be on the Council. Since the Unionists wouldn't have accepted a council with just Irish and North Irish representatives, Blair drafted in members of the Welsh assembly, the Scottish parliament, and the whatever they call thems of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Blair tried to call this the Council of the British Isles, but the Irish objected to the word British, so they'll have to have endless debates about a better name. Meanwhile, to show how well peace is taking effect, the IRA conducted two kneecappings yesterday and a new wall is being built to separate Catholics and Protestants in north Belfast.
Thursday, April 09, 1998
Last week I mentioned that the gangster and convicted felon Andrei "The Pimple" Klimentyev had been elected mayor of Russia's 3rd-largest city Novgorod. I neglected to follow up when he was deposed almost immediately on a fraud charge, which turned out to be for making campaign promises he couldn't possibly fulfill.
Looking at Clinton's continued popularity, Bob Packwood is thinking about going back into politics. The Slate suggests the slogan "Still Packing Wood".
The British, who are slow but steady in these matters, have figured out who the four people were who killed King Harold in 1066. The descendants of one of them are still farming the 4,000 acres they were given as a reward.
In 1984, the California Department of Corrections removed from its list of official goals "rehabilitation".
William Safire's NY Times column for today decries Clinton's being allowed to make far-reaching arguments for executive privilege in secret session, for no obvious legitimate reason. Andrew Sullivan's op-ed piece notes that while Clinton opposes job discrimination against gays, as commander in chief he has now fired more gays than any other employer in the US. Sullivan asks "Is is too much to ask that this President finally live up to his own words? Or with this President, is that now utterly beside the point?" I assume that's a rhetorical question, Andrew.
Looking at Clinton's continued popularity, Bob Packwood is thinking about going back into politics. The Slate suggests the slogan "Still Packing Wood".
The British, who are slow but steady in these matters, have figured out who the four people were who killed King Harold in 1066. The descendants of one of them are still farming the 4,000 acres they were given as a reward.
In 1984, the California Department of Corrections removed from its list of official goals "rehabilitation".
William Safire's NY Times column for today decries Clinton's being allowed to make far-reaching arguments for executive privilege in secret session, for no obvious legitimate reason. Andrew Sullivan's op-ed piece notes that while Clinton opposes job discrimination against gays, as commander in chief he has now fired more gays than any other employer in the US. Sullivan asks "Is is too much to ask that this President finally live up to his own words? Or with this President, is that now utterly beside the point?" I assume that's a rhetorical question, Andrew.
Tuesday, April 07, 1998
Beaten up, raped, and speaking Albanian
From London Times:
"They're terrified of Bill Clinton, completely terrified," a leading conservative lobbyist said. "They're afraid that if they get in a room with him they'll be beaten up, raped, come out speaking Albanian - they don't know what horrible things will happen to them."
Also from London Times:
* Lord Hattersley, lifelong opponent of the Lords, made his maiden speech in the Upper House yesterday. Eloquent as ever, he offered a plausible case for taking a peerage. But every time a true Socialist rises, ennobled, in the Lords, a little fairy somewhere dies.
Quote from the judge who threw out the Paula Jones lawsuit: "Although it is not clear why plaintiff failed to receive flowers on Secretary's Day in 1992, such an omission does not give rise to a Federal cause of action in the absence of evidence of some more tangible change in duties or working conditions."
The New York Times notes that Pakistan just tested a missile capable of reacing Delhi, but fails to mention that it is named after the Afghan Muslim king who invaded India in the 12th century. India previously deployed a missile that will give Pakistan 3 minutes of reaction time. Good luck, guys.
A Reuters story begins: "The Taliban authorities amputated a hand of a convicted thief in a sports stadium here today and used the occasion to defend their human rights record."
The number of people expelled from the military for homosexuality has increased dramatically since Clinton's change of policy. DOD is blaming the gays, saying that people are claiming homosexuality as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
"They're terrified of Bill Clinton, completely terrified," a leading conservative lobbyist said. "They're afraid that if they get in a room with him they'll be beaten up, raped, come out speaking Albanian - they don't know what horrible things will happen to them."
Also from London Times:
* Lord Hattersley, lifelong opponent of the Lords, made his maiden speech in the Upper House yesterday. Eloquent as ever, he offered a plausible case for taking a peerage. But every time a true Socialist rises, ennobled, in the Lords, a little fairy somewhere dies.
Quote from the judge who threw out the Paula Jones lawsuit: "Although it is not clear why plaintiff failed to receive flowers on Secretary's Day in 1992, such an omission does not give rise to a Federal cause of action in the absence of evidence of some more tangible change in duties or working conditions."
The New York Times notes that Pakistan just tested a missile capable of reacing Delhi, but fails to mention that it is named after the Afghan Muslim king who invaded India in the 12th century. India previously deployed a missile that will give Pakistan 3 minutes of reaction time. Good luck, guys.
A Reuters story begins: "The Taliban authorities amputated a hand of a convicted thief in a sports stadium here today and used the occasion to defend their human rights record."
The number of people expelled from the military for homosexuality has increased dramatically since Clinton's change of policy. DOD is blaming the gays, saying that people are claiming homosexuality as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Thursday, April 02, 1998
Guns don't kill people, bullets do
This may or may not have been a real letter to USA Today: "I would like to commend the National Rifle Association on its program to teach youngsters how to use firearms safely. It works. Neither of the two young shooters in Jonesboro were injured."
Headline: "Clinton Gets Off". Yes he does, yes he does.
AARP poster girl: An 88-year old great-grandmother is arrested in Virginia for killing a guy.
A few years ago a San Francisco cop who likes to carry around a ventriloquist's dummy named Officer Brendan O'Smarty and who had gotten into some trouble with his superiors because they thought he should, oh, I don't know, catch criminals or something, initiated an initiative on the city ballot (cost = several hundred thousand dollars) and got the good people of Starship Frisco to validate his mid-life crisis. It seems he is now in dispute with the IRS, 'cause he's trying to write a certain chunk of wood off his taxes.
Some time ago I posted an article which said that ear-prints are as individual as finger-prints, but the first attempt (in Britain) to use them in a court of law was laughed out by the jury yesterday.
Tuesday, March 31, 1998
The British Tory party's compassion is not entirely fictitious, although the object of that compassion is. The party has united in support of a review of the sentence imposed on one of the characters on Coronation Street, the long-running soap opera.
Rep. Jay Kim asks for his federal sentence of house detention to be postponed, as it would interfere with his reelection campaign.
The new mayor of Russia's 3rd largest city Novgorod is convicted felon (fraud, pornography and embezzling a state loan) and nightclub owner Andrei "The Pimple" Klimentyev. He ran openly as a gangster, but then again the person he defeated ran openly as a lawyer.
102-year olds in the news: a woman who emigrated from the US to Israel, the oldest such emigrant ever (I think they told her it was Florida); a British man who was declared missing in action in the Great War but turned up in time for his own funeral, 80 years ago.
Rep. Jay Kim asks for his federal sentence of house detention to be postponed, as it would interfere with his reelection campaign.
The new mayor of Russia's 3rd largest city Novgorod is convicted felon (fraud, pornography and embezzling a state loan) and nightclub owner Andrei "The Pimple" Klimentyev. He ran openly as a gangster, but then again the person he defeated ran openly as a lawyer.
102-year olds in the news: a woman who emigrated from the US to Israel, the oldest such emigrant ever (I think they told her it was Florida); a British man who was declared missing in action in the Great War but turned up in time for his own funeral, 80 years ago.
Saturday, March 28, 1998
Interesting article in the Sunday NY Times on how police departments are training cops to ignore suspects' invoking of their Miranda rights.
Paula Jones's latest court filings bring gossip to a fine art. To prove a pattern of intimidation by Clinton of witnesses, they cite a woman who will not testify against him as an example. They claim based on no evidence at all that Clinton raped her in the late 1970s.
Stupid casting idea of the week: Meg Ryan as Sylvia Plath.
Paula Jones's latest court filings bring gossip to a fine art. To prove a pattern of intimidation by Clinton of witnesses, they cite a woman who will not testify against him as an example. They claim based on no evidence at all that Clinton raped her in the late 1970s.
Stupid casting idea of the week: Meg Ryan as Sylvia Plath.
Thursday, March 26, 1998
The Nation of Islam appoints one of Malcolm X's convicted murderers to head a Harlem mosque.
It seems that there is a drunk driving lobby which recently defeated an attempt in Maryland to lower the drunk driving standard to .08 and is working to do the same at the national level. Naturally, it consists of liquor companies and chain restaurants/bars. Who ever thought that Hooters could be on the wrong side of an issue?
A 4-year old in Ohio showed up at daycare with a handgun. For the second time.
The grandfather of one of those loveable tykes in Arkansas says that he was taught how to shoot at 6, but he always shot safely. I wonder what his definition of safe is? Maybe he wore a condom.
It seems that there is a drunk driving lobby which recently defeated an attempt in Maryland to lower the drunk driving standard to .08 and is working to do the same at the national level. Naturally, it consists of liquor companies and chain restaurants/bars. Who ever thought that Hooters could be on the wrong side of an issue?
A 4-year old in Ohio showed up at daycare with a handgun. For the second time.
The grandfather of one of those loveable tykes in Arkansas says that he was taught how to shoot at 6, but he always shot safely. I wonder what his definition of safe is? Maybe he wore a condom.
Wednesday, March 25, 1998
Kenneth Starr subpoenas two bookstores to find out what Monica Lewinsky has been reading. He's really becoming the nosy neighbor on a sitcom, but with subpoena power.
Meanwhile, Clinton has forced the claim of executive privilege to greater lengths than did Nixon. Congratulations, Billy Bob.
Ariel Sharon said on tv that Israel will sooner or later assassinate the guy they got caught trying to kill in Jordan a few months ago.
The British Parliament votes 211-15 to ban caning from all public (private, you know) schools. Can't wait to see what the next generation of Etonians' sexual perversions will consist of.
Meanwhile, Clinton has forced the claim of executive privilege to greater lengths than did Nixon. Congratulations, Billy Bob.
Ariel Sharon said on tv that Israel will sooner or later assassinate the guy they got caught trying to kill in Jordan a few months ago.
The British Parliament votes 211-15 to ban caning from all public (private, you know) schools. Can't wait to see what the next generation of Etonians' sexual perversions will consist of.
Tuesday, March 24, 1998
Saturday, March 21, 1998
In October 1993, the US Marines Historical Reenactment Society evidently performed their version of My Lai in Somalia, killing over 1,000 Somalis, taking hostages, using bodies as barricades, etc etc. Nice to be hearing about this now.
The latest breakout in the increasingly out of control world of fertility research: sperm from a dead guy. Sperm from someone dead over 24 hours was removed and successfully fertilized eggs. And the stuff can be frozen. So there have been an increasing number of requests for extractions from dead teenagers (to carry on the family lineage) and that sort of thing.
The latest breakout in the increasingly out of control world of fertility research: sperm from a dead guy. Sperm from someone dead over 24 hours was removed and successfully fertilized eggs. And the stuff can be frozen. So there have been an increasing number of requests for extractions from dead teenagers (to carry on the family lineage) and that sort of thing.
Friday, March 20, 1998
Dean McHenry, the guiding force behind UCSC, has died.
So has Dr. Spock and I can no longer resist: He's dead, Jim.
There's talk of a Jewish cable channel in Britain. One idea: a dating program on traditional lines, questions being asked of someone hidden from the contestant, except that in this case, the questions are to be asked by the contestant's...Jewish mother. Oy. Jenny McCarthy will probably not be on this one.
How do American dental students get teeth to practice on? The French have reverted to the traditional medical practice of graverobbing, or actually bribing gravediggers.
A belated Purple Heart was given to a prisoner on San Quentin's death row today. It's part of his crazy-veteran defense, but they still had the normal ceremony.
So has Dr. Spock and I can no longer resist: He's dead, Jim.
There's talk of a Jewish cable channel in Britain. One idea: a dating program on traditional lines, questions being asked of someone hidden from the contestant, except that in this case, the questions are to be asked by the contestant's...Jewish mother. Oy. Jenny McCarthy will probably not be on this one.
How do American dental students get teeth to practice on? The French have reverted to the traditional medical practice of graverobbing, or actually bribing gravediggers.
A belated Purple Heart was given to a prisoner on San Quentin's death row today. It's part of his crazy-veteran defense, but they still had the normal ceremony.
Wednesday, March 18, 1998
The Amazing Kreskin has said he will get to the bottom of the whole Whitewater thing by reading the minds of all concerned, for $1. Anything's better than Death by 60 Minutes. Just saw Ann Lewis, White House Communications Director, being savaged on Nightline for giving the same line on Willey that she attacked when it was used against Anita Hill. Someone suggested that the response of feminists to this one indicates that feminism is no longer a principle but a political tool.
The story to look for in the next few days will be about the information contained in the just-released files of the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission. Keep an eye out.
The new status item for drug dealers is watch-alligators, replacing the pit bulls they used to use.
New Labour, Old Genitals: David Spry elected for the Labour party to the town council of Bristol (coincidentally, Bristols means breasts in cockney) has since become a pre-op transexual called Rosalind. I blame Monty Python, and Benny Hill. He/she was not allowed into the women's group of the Labour party.
The story to look for in the next few days will be about the information contained in the just-released files of the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission. Keep an eye out.
The new status item for drug dealers is watch-alligators, replacing the pit bulls they used to use.
New Labour, Old Genitals: David Spry elected for the Labour party to the town council of Bristol (coincidentally, Bristols means breasts in cockney) has since become a pre-op transexual called Rosalind. I blame Monty Python, and Benny Hill. He/she was not allowed into the women's group of the Labour party.
Monday, March 16, 1998
The Chinification of US prisons
The world's largest democracy, so-called, just gets sillier. The Hindu fundies have taken over, if they can dispense enough bribes to keep power, and pledge to build nuclear weapons, presumably for use against McDonald's (that's a sacred cow joke, if anybody didn't get it). Meanwhile the Congress Party, in an act of ancestor-in-law worship that should set back the feminist movement even further, puts Italian widow Sonia Gandhi in charge of their party. She did it on the condition that she wouldn't have to do any actual work.
A new book says that Lyndon Johnson bugged Veep Hubert Humphrey and sabotaged his 1968 presidential campaign.
I trust everyone watched 60 Minutes last night, because you just can't hear enough about Clinton's penis (or, the leader of the leader of the free world, as it's known).
A new book says that Lyndon Johnson bugged Veep Hubert Humphrey and sabotaged his 1968 presidential campaign.
I trust everyone watched 60 Minutes last night, because you just can't hear enough about Clinton's penis (or, the leader of the leader of the free world, as it's known).
Friday, March 13, 1998
You may already have won
Clinton has been toying with adopting Truman's strategy of attacking the do-nothing Congress, his ambivalence perhaps reflecting the relief most of us feels when this particular Congress is not doing anything. Certainly, Clinton picked a bad place to start, insisting on Congress ratifying the tobacco deal. Assuming this has nothing to do with campaign contributions, this shows how committed Clinton has become to the idea of a budget surplus (his budget numbers require the money from the tobacco companies). However, the continuing flow of revelations about past practices suggests that rushing the deal would be to give an amnesty without knowing what crimes were being amnestied.
Speaking of amnesties, 1) the South African Truth Commission just asked the courts to reverse its own amnesty of ANC leaders in the absence of testimony from them, as was required of everyone else. 2) Kim Dae-jung's amnesty of 5.5 million Koreans failed to include the world's longest serving political prisoner (since 1958--in solitary) and several other POCs, who refused the condition of renouncing their political beliefs (the bit that none of the American media seem to have noticed). But it does include a lot of convicted drunk drivers who will presumably now get their licenses back.
The Serbian media keep referring to the Albanians of Kosovo as a minority. Do you think even Serbs believe that 90% constitute a minority? It's that sort of thinking that made Wilson cancel the requirement that the state should try to give 5% of its contracts to businesses owned by women.
Web-site of the week: www.taliban.com
Speaking of amnesties, 1) the South African Truth Commission just asked the courts to reverse its own amnesty of ANC leaders in the absence of testimony from them, as was required of everyone else. 2) Kim Dae-jung's amnesty of 5.5 million Koreans failed to include the world's longest serving political prisoner (since 1958--in solitary) and several other POCs, who refused the condition of renouncing their political beliefs (the bit that none of the American media seem to have noticed). But it does include a lot of convicted drunk drivers who will presumably now get their licenses back.
The Serbian media keep referring to the Albanians of Kosovo as a minority. Do you think even Serbs believe that 90% constitute a minority? It's that sort of thinking that made Wilson cancel the requirement that the state should try to give 5% of its contracts to businesses owned by women.
Web-site of the week: www.taliban.com
Wednesday, March 11, 1998
I said a few months ago that there would be ethnic rioting in places like Indonesia. Even I underestimated the cynicism of the Suharto government, which ITN says is organizing some of the rioting against Chinese shops, a sure distraction from the government's rampant corruption. Sworn in for yet another unopposed term, Suharto, who has only one name, like Madonna, or Godzilla, said that the good times (!) will not return to Indonesia. This is a day after he restored tax breaks and monopolies to his family.
Rep. Jay Kim, the first Korean member of the US Congress, will become the first to come to the House with one of those prison monitoring bracelets.
Rep. Jay Kim, the first Korean member of the US Congress, will become the first to come to the House with one of those prison monitoring bracelets.
Sunday, March 08, 1998
I am somebody--well, the son of somebody
In a profile of Jesse Jackson Jr., the NY Times says that he talks of the difficulties of a black man hailing a cab in D.C. Maybe they just realize he's a congressman.
The media always get interested in censorship just a bit late. For example, I just got from the Village Voice the answer to a question I had been wondering for weeks, namely, if there had been a war in Iraq, what would the press arrangements have been. In fact, it would have been the reviled pool system, which alternative media during the last Gulf war, and mainstream media afterwards, filed suit against, but which no one bothered to report would have been instituted again, if you can follow my grammar. Incidentally, all those interviews we did read last month with resigned but game servicepeople were chaperoned by minders from the Pentagon.
In Mein Kamf, to make a subtle segue, Hitler talked a lot about The Jew and the Jews, but only mentioned one specific Jew, an unnamed one he had gone to school with at Linz, who evidently soured him on the whole race. In a book out shortly, Kimberley Cornish, The Jew of Linz--excerpted in today's Sunday (London) Times, which can be easily retrieved from the Times web-site whenever you read this, it is suggested and I think close to proved that that Jew was the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. The same age, but 2 years ahead of Hitler, he shared many of the same interests and annoying habits, and matched many of the traits denounced in Mein Kampf. Hitler would later set up a steel works specifically to undermine the works owned by the Wittgenstein family. The book also argues that Wittgenstein was the unnamed homosexual teacher at Trinity College, Cambridge, who recruited the famous spies for the Soviet Union (Blunt, Philby, Burgess, Maclean).
I hope everyone's keeping up with the oil pipeline planned through the Caucasus. Russia seems so intent on making sure that it's path, to be chosen this month, goes through Russian territory, that it seems to be responsible for the assassination attempts last month on the presidents of Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as the bloodless coup in Armenia, which Russia is arming for a renewed military confrontation with Azerbaijan.
The media always get interested in censorship just a bit late. For example, I just got from the Village Voice the answer to a question I had been wondering for weeks, namely, if there had been a war in Iraq, what would the press arrangements have been. In fact, it would have been the reviled pool system, which alternative media during the last Gulf war, and mainstream media afterwards, filed suit against, but which no one bothered to report would have been instituted again, if you can follow my grammar. Incidentally, all those interviews we did read last month with resigned but game servicepeople were chaperoned by minders from the Pentagon.
In Mein Kamf, to make a subtle segue, Hitler talked a lot about The Jew and the Jews, but only mentioned one specific Jew, an unnamed one he had gone to school with at Linz, who evidently soured him on the whole race. In a book out shortly, Kimberley Cornish, The Jew of Linz--excerpted in today's Sunday (London) Times, which can be easily retrieved from the Times web-site whenever you read this, it is suggested and I think close to proved that that Jew was the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. The same age, but 2 years ahead of Hitler, he shared many of the same interests and annoying habits, and matched many of the traits denounced in Mein Kampf. Hitler would later set up a steel works specifically to undermine the works owned by the Wittgenstein family. The book also argues that Wittgenstein was the unnamed homosexual teacher at Trinity College, Cambridge, who recruited the famous spies for the Soviet Union (Blunt, Philby, Burgess, Maclean).
I hope everyone's keeping up with the oil pipeline planned through the Caucasus. Russia seems so intent on making sure that it's path, to be chosen this month, goes through Russian territory, that it seems to be responsible for the assassination attempts last month on the presidents of Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as the bloodless coup in Armenia, which Russia is arming for a renewed military confrontation with Azerbaijan.
Friday, March 06, 1998
The Supreme Court rules that local officials who deliberately violate civil rights have legislative immunity. In the case, a city council retaliated against a black woman who had complained about racial slurs from a co-worker by eliminating her job.
The Palestinian security forces are being trained in interrogation and eavesdropping by the CIA. I'm sure the news of that will relax everyone.
The UN war crimes tribunal cuts the sentence on a Croat who shot at least 70 Muslims to 5 years on account of his youth and remorse. So that's all right then.
The Palestinian security forces are being trained in interrogation and eavesdropping by the CIA. I'm sure the news of that will relax everyone.
The UN war crimes tribunal cuts the sentence on a Croat who shot at least 70 Muslims to 5 years on account of his youth and remorse. So that's all right then.
Saturday, February 28, 1998
By coincidence, ran into 2 stories of Starr's hypocrisy in a row. The first, on the Mother Jones website, shows how when Starr was attorney for GM, he did his damnedest to keep evidence of perjury out of the records, if not actually suborn perjury himself. The article is kind of interesting. It's about how GM, in the 70s decided it was cheaper to let a bunch of people die and pay the lawsuits than to make a rather cheap improvement to their automobiles.
The second, in the Washington Post, says that Starr has now subpoenaed two private investigators for the National Enquirer who in 1996 tried to find evidence that he was having an affair. Amazingly, they couldn't find evidence, and didn't run the story. That puts their journalistic ethics higher than those of any other news source in the country.
The second, in the Washington Post, says that Starr has now subpoenaed two private investigators for the National Enquirer who in 1996 tried to find evidence that he was having an affair. Amazingly, they couldn't find evidence, and didn't run the story. That puts their journalistic ethics higher than those of any other news source in the country.
My long-time readers will recall the following, from Fri, 1 Nov 1996:
A follow-up:
International News Electronic Telegraph Friday 27 February 1998
Gay men survive execution attempt
IN THE School of Islamic Thought that has shaped the ideology of the Taliban, there is an active debate on the appropriate punishment for homosexuals.
Mullah Mohammed Hassan, Governor of Kandahar, the fundamentalist movement's home province, explained the dilemma: "There are two kinds of strong punishment. There are those who say homosexuals should be thrown to their death from a high fort, and those who favour putting them in a pit and pushing a wall on top of them.
International News Electronic Telegraph Friday 27 February 1998
Gay men survive execution attempt
THREE Afghan men convicted of sodomy have been spared after they survived an attempt to execute them by using a tank to bulldoze a wall on top of them. Thirty minutes later, they were found alive in the rubble.
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