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It was a pretty good Christmas in terms of presents.
My family usually goes to Canada to visit my mother's side of the family every other Christmas and this was one of the years we went to Ottawa. I had a great time this year, probably better than I've ever had.
Just wanted to make some notes about some of the things I saw.
Our flights took us from San Antonio (SAT) to Atlanta (ATL) and then on to Ottawa International Airport. Security was definitely heightened, but not intrusive. The new Transportation Security Administration had employees in uniform and working the security measures. Each officer I encountered was polite and professional and they all had new uniforms. Customs and immigration didn't seem to be any tighter than the other times I've crossed the border.
The only thing I could remotely call annoying was when I was asked to open my carry-on bag for a search after it was scanned by the x-ray machine. The screener wanted to make sure my fingernail clippers didn't have a knife blade integrated into them. While I consider that particular government ban to be rather pointless and another one of those creeping and mundane violations of my property rights, it was quick and painless and the screener voiced his sympathies after I gave him an "are you serious?" look.
All in all, I had expected to go through a much harsher security process. There was only a minimal waiting time at each stop and I often wondered at the oft-repeated wisdom of arriving at the airport two hours early, especially for international flights. Perhaps we were in the airports during relatively slow passenger traffic times.
I'll be in Ottawa for the next week, so no posts until then.
Arthur Silber asks what needs to be done
Short of impeaching the entire Republican Party (can that be done? -- it would be great if it could), maybe the time has arrived for a new party. Can the Libertarian Party be saved from some of the idiots that populate it? Is there anyone sensible -- and who actually understands what limited government, and national self-defense mean -- who could lead it? Perhaps a critical moment has arrived, and enough people are tired of the same old, same old Democrats and Republicans. I'm not suggesting that a new party could actually win in the next election (maybe some Congressional seats, but nothing more), but perhaps a new party, with new leadership, could begin to change the way the game is being played right now.What do you think? And who could lead such a new party, either reshaping the Libertarian Party or starting a whole new one? Any candidates come to mind? Or can you think of any other strategies to begin some meaningful change? This whole charade has genuinely become sickening beyond belief.
I'm still all rather new in my observations of the political landscape, so I'm no good for names. But ideas are something I can contribute.
Disenchanted Republicans, libertarians, and free-marketers should join forces with disenchanted organizations and individuals who fight government intrusion in our lives, from the DMCA to restrictions on free speech to judicial and law enforcement overreach. It's a generalization, but it seems most of these "civil libertarians" don't view government intrustion into the economy in the same negative light. It's time to show them the error of their ways and demonstrate that we want the same thing: individual freedom.
If we could somehow manage to expose the contradictions in the civ-libs' thinking and explain that respect and support for individual liberty must be carried out in all aspects, I think we'd have a viable third party. It would have the numbers (Libertarians + free-market Republicans + civ-libs) that the other third parties lack. Given that this new party would be unwaveringly devoted to upholding individual freedom, it would be internally consistent and present a clear message that would attract others from each side of the current political spectrum.
"blabla" remarked in Mr. Silber's comments section:
The solution is to move away from politics and towards natural rights. Any and every party eventually becomes corrupt as it vies to gain control of the monopoly on the initiation of force the government claims.No more parties. More individualism.
The gut feeling is he or she is correct. History is certainly sobering in this regard. However, I don't see the utility of running as an individual seperate from a structure that can support you and distribute your message more efficiently. It all depends on how well the new party would remain focused on its goals, which are simple enough.
Often, I get the feeling that parties get bogged down in the process of raising money. Advertising your message costs money, as does the human and material infrastructure of a party. Where does this money come from? The ideal is self-funding through voluntary donations and the refusal all government handouts. However, unless a sea change in attitudes or involvement occurs, donations aren't likely to provide much money.
Of course, given the nature of the people behind this movement, it would be expected of us to balance risk and make investments in the most productive things, to rationally use our minds and our talents to the best of our ability. Find new ways of getting the message out, of combating the opposing messages.
Optimistic and maybe even borderline Utopian? Possibly. Is it something that should be tried? Absolutely.
Tony Woodlief handles the tough questions.
Sand: Santa is always so coy; tell us, how do you deliver all of those toys in just one night? You must have seen some of the physics analysis of that feat -- it looks pretty darn impossible.Rudolph: Well, I probably shouldn't say. . .
Sand: (Leans forward, smiles) It can just be our secret.
Rudolph: (Whispers) Most kids don't get presents.
Sand: Get out of town.
Rudolph: Have you been to the mall lately? Little beasts, most of them. They're not even worth a lump of coal, unless you could hit them in the head with it. I tell you, Christmas gets easier on us every year. Five years from now we probably won't even need as many reindeer. (Louder) You hear that Blitzen, you punk?
*grin*
Age: 22
Male
ZIP Code: 78753
Current Earnings: $25,700
Investments: 45% in Blue Chips, 5% in Start-ups, 10% in Corporate Bonds, 40% in US Treasury Bonds
Default for everything else
The results:
Taxes Paid into Social Security
$542,028
Monthly Benefits
$2,883
Rate of Return on Monthly Benefits
-1.86%
Verses...
Total Value of your PRA at Retirement
$1,576,525
Rate of Return of your PRA at Retirement
4.99%
OR
Monthly PRA Benefits
$6,421
Rate of Return on PRA Monthly Benefits
1.60%
Amount Passed to Heirs (Bequest)
$1,282,763
That's 5% as opposed to a negative 1.8%. You make money instead of losing it. Monthly benefits over 4.5 times as large. A way to accumulate and pass down the wealth. Not to mention the FREEDOM to choose the best way to save your money for the future.
Another Social Security Calculator spits out these numbers using equivalent data as above:
Value of Benefits at the Time of Your Retirement:
Monthly SS Payment
$1,943
Rate of SS Return
1.1%
Monthly Payment if payroll taxes were invested in 60% Stocks 40% Bonds
$6,951
Rate of S&B Return
4.8%
For every $1 of Social Security benefits you would have received $3.58 if your taxes had been invested in bonds and stocks. For every $1 of taxes paid, you can expect to receive $0.36 in benefits. For government to meet all its commitments to you, the payroll tax will have to be 28.08% in the year of your retirement [current rates are around 10-15%].
Now, the actual Social Security website has it's own online calculators. Using the "quick" one, I get:
Retire at age 62 in 2024, monthly benefit of $1,089.00
Retire at age 67 in 2029, monthly benefit of $1,577.00
Retire at age 70 in 2032, monthly benefit of $1,968.00
Of course, these are all estimates based on assumptions and incomplete data. However, the overall trend it obvious. It makes much more sense to use your money in the open financial market than let the government hold on to it.
UPDATE(6/24/2004 9:01am)
Forgot to mention a newer entry on this: Social Security Fraud.
A little over a year ago, I was driving to a friend's house and listening to KVRX. KVRX shares the 91.7 MHz frequency with KOOP: during the day, KOOP broadcasts and at night it's KVRX's turn. KOOP focuses on community programming while KVRX is mostly weird, unconventional, and independent music.
This particular night, I was maybe ten minutes from my destination when a song came on. Starting innocently enough, it built upon itelf and became something I had never heard before. Something that was good enough to pull me off the road and listen with the car turned off. At the time, I knew what IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) was, but I had limited myself to the music of Aphex Twin, Autechre, and Squarepusher. This was something else entirely.
After the song ended, I drove to the nearest pay phone (cell phone battery was dead) and called the radio station to ask the name of the song and the band that made it. "Telephasic Workshop" was the tune and Boards of Canada was the band. The DJ was so pleased I liked the track that she put on another one for me, titled "An Eagle in Your Mind." Less upbeat, even more beautiful, and yet still the same sound, I think I was hooked on BoC at that point.
The next week I picked up their full-length, Music Has a Right to Children. Simply amazing. Astounded by the presentation and the mood the music created, I went back a few days later to look for more CDs. Alas, the only other one available was In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country, a short four song EP that was much more downtempo and pastoral than the material on MHARTC, but unmistakably the same band. I listened to those CDs on a regular basis for weeks. After a while, I forgot to look for more and turned my attention to other acts I was interested in...mostly thanks to the influence from BoC.
Browsing around Waterloo Records a few months later, I came across something I had never expected to find: a Peel Sessions release! Though only three tracks and they were all slight remixes of material from MHARTC, it was something I couldn't pass up. It reawoke my desire to dig deeper into the group and read about them.
In the process, I discovered they were about to release a new full-length with brand new music. Estatic, I was to say the least. Though a corner of my mind worried about BoC sucking on their second try, I had faith...resting, as it was, on such a small foundation.
When I first heard Geogaddi, I told that little voice to shove it. BoC had created a monster of a followup, expanding in every way their now-famous and trademark sound. People often describe the music as the fading memories of a lost youth. That isn't a bad way to put it. Somehow, through the synth and selective sample work, BoC creates an air of a sepia dream state where people play and jostle and act like a "kid for today," the name of one of their tracks off IABPOITC. Now I had more songs...but I really wanted to hear their older stuff.
I didn't have to wait long. They just recently re-released their previously rare-as-hell debut LP, Twoism. I ran across it while Christmas shopping and didn't think twice about picking it up and paying for it. Barely a day later, I found another old release, Hi Scores and snatched that up as well. Suddenly, I had their whole catalogue!
I'm still digesting this new music, but I can say that I'm not disappointed. It's rougher, less complex, not as consistent, and doesn't flow as easily from one track to the next as Music Has a Right to Children and Geogaddi, but it's just as interesting and worthwhile as anything else they've released.
I think Boards of Canada make great work music for cubicles. Some of the tracks are a little too slow and melancholy, but the atmosphere and the mood I get from the songs is highly conducive to working. Not only do I love the hell out of the music, but there's nothing "offensive" about it which would drive a co-worker to complain.
I'm just speaking out loud. Not only do I dig their music, but they have an amazingly innovative website as well. All Hail!
Is it April Fools' in December? What's up with this?
Woman files lawsuit against President
Margie Schoedinger of Missouri City, Texas has filed a lawsuit against George W. Bush in Fort Bend County Court. In her suit she is alleging "race based harassment and individual sex crimes committed against her and her husband." The suit lists numerous offenses and asks for actual damages, punitive damages and judgments against George W. Bush.In her suit, among the many allegations, she has stated, "On or about, October 26, 2000, an attempt was made to abduct Plaintiff (Schoedinger) by three unknown assailants. Because of the actions of these assailants, Sugar Land police officers were dispatched to the scene. In the end, no report was taken. The assailants were treated respectfully and allowed to go free while Plaintiff (Schoedinger) was repeatedly and aggressively questioned. After filing a lawsuit, the Plaintiff?s family and past contacts were questioned and harassed." As a result, Plaintiff dismissed Plaintiff?s lawsuit. Irrespective of Plaintiff dismissing the lawsuit, the harassment continued." Schoedinger, goes on to allege "at some point, she contacted the Houston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, filing a raced based harassment complaint, advising that the Sugar Land Police Department may or may not be harassing Plaintiff on behalf of her neighbors in Sugar Land or possibly on behalf of the First Colony Community Services Association."
Schoedinger further states in her lawsuit, "The (FBI) agent in question advised her that the situation appeared to be highly organized and most likely higher level, such as a racist organization." Furthermore she states, "Throughout this conversation, she learned that there was no time that the Defendant (Bush) ever stopped watching Plaintiff?, nor did he stop having sex with Plaintiff. The sole concern of the Defendant and his representatives was whether Plaintiff could actually recall whether Plaintiff could actually recall, the individual sex crimes committed against Plaintiff and Plaintiff?s husband, utilizing drugs.
Section VII of the lawsuit states; "Whether or not Plaintiff?s husband was raped remains in question, as Plaintiff was drugged after she was raped and her husband was drugged before her rape. Plaintiff can only state that these men purported to be FBI agents raping her for the purpose of covering for how many times they had drugged her and allowed the Defendant to rape her in the same manner."
Pravda is carrying the story as well.
It became known that a resident of Missouri City, Texas, Margie Schoedinger, filed a lawsuit against the former governor of Texas and the current president of the United States. PRAVDA.Ru has the complete text of Schoedinger?s petition at its disposal.In her suit, Margie Schoedinger states that George W. Bush committed sexual crimes against her, organized harassment and moral pressure on her, her family members and close relatives and friends. As Schoedinger said, she was strongly recommended to keep her mouth shut. In addition to that, three unknown men attempted to kidnap her on October 26, 2000.
According to Margie Schoedinger, Sugar Land police officers arrived at the scene of the crime. However, they treated kidnappers respectfully and let them go, while Margie and her family members were questioned rather aggressively. Eventually, the police made her dismiss her own lawsuit. Yet, the harassment continued in spite of the lawsuit dismissal.
The frightened American woman went to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Yet, FBI Houston Office agents took on the same demeanor as Sugar Land police officers. One of them told the lady that everything was highly organized.
Margie Schoedinger does not know, to which extent her husband might suffer from that sexual harassment. Whether or not her husband was raped remains in question. As Margie Schoedinger alleges, both she and her husband were drugged after she was raped. She can only state that ?those men purported to be FBI agents raping her for the purpose of covering for how many times they had drugged her and allowed the Defendant (George W. Bush) to rape her in the same manner.?
As a result of all that, pregnant Margie Schoedinger was hospitalized. She had a miscarriage. As she says, George W. Bush was the father of the lost child. Furthermore, she alleges that George Bush ordered to show pressure on her to the point, when she commits suicide. Margie Schoedinger?s husband was fired from work. Her husband has been unable to find any job since then. He does not get the federal unemployment allowance either. Later, Margie Schoedinger learned that both police officers and FBI agents acted like that at the behest of the defendant, incumbent President George W. Bush.
So far, there is only the Pravda article on Google News. Drudge has nothing and neither does AP Breaking News. Nothing in Yahoo News and nothing in UPI. Nothing on Romenesko's MediaNews. I originally found this in a Che-lives.com discussion forum thread.
Is this a joke?
UPDATE (12/14 10:11am):
Indymedia now has the story.
UPDATE (12/17 12:31am):
"Unsubstantiated report goes online prematurely"
A news report about a court filing by a Missouri City, Texas, woman who claims President Bush raped her was posted on the Internet prematurely and without sufficient fact-checking, says the editor of the paper.The story, published Wednesday by the Fort Bend Star, said Margie Schoedinger also claims that Bush conspired with the FBI and local police to cover up his alleged crime.
"This report wasn't supposed to go up yet," Jean Sandlin, an editor for the paper, told WorldNetDaily. Speaking of Schoedinger, Sandlin added: "I had heard she was a nutcase."
[...]
Upon further investigation, however, WorldNetDaily discovered that indeed Schoedinger filed court papers with the Fort Bend County court Dec. 2 alleging the sexual abuse.
According to her account, which was confusing, rambling and incomplete, she also alleged that she has been harassed and threatened by federal agents, her bank accounts looted, her husband fired from his job, and that she had a miscarriage after being beaten. In court papers, she intimated that Bush "might have been the father of the child that was lost."
Weird. Updated info via Random Abstract.
UPDATE(4/5/2003 1pm)
This website has a mirror of this post.
UPDATE(11/11/2003 8:31am)
As D.Kaylor said, Margie Schoedinger has indeed passed away. The Houston Chronicle carried her obituary, but their archives go back only one month. At least according to Radio Left. Additional commentary (from a progressive Democrat perspective) on the Bartcop forum.
Claritin now available over the counter
Some pharmacists expect the price to drop 76%. Not everyone is happy, though.
"I hate it because I could get it through my prescription for $10 for a three-month supply," said Granberry, 45, a FedEx employee.She'll now pay drugstore prices, where the drug will cost $18.99 for 20 10-milligram tablets at Walgreens.
"I didn't pay that much for a three-month supply," she said.
I've had allergies for years, though in the past they were much worse than they are now (probably due to my environment). I've never had Claritin prescribed to me, but I was given some samples when I went in to get some cold-like symptoms checked out a few months ago. I tried a dose and it seemed to work fairly well. The big thing about Claritin, as far as I can tell, is that it was a pioneer in true non-drowsy antihistamines. I've never been affected by the sedativeness people often complain about when taking traditional antihistamine medicine.
Step 1, read the initial article
About half of all Web searches in the world are performed with Google, which has been translated into 86 languages. The big reason for the success? It works. Not only does Google dramatically speed the process of finding things in the vast storehouse of the Web, but its power encourages people to make searches they previously wouldn't have bothered with. Getting the skinny from Google is so common that the company name has become a verb. The usage has even been anointed by an instantly renowned New Yorker cartoon, where a barfly admits to a friend that "I can't explain it - it's just a funny feeling I'm being Googled."
Step 2, temporarily become distracted by the humor in the statement.
Step 3, wonder what the cartoon looks like.
Step 4, laugh out loud at the irony and then Google it
Nobody likes saltwater, anyway
About 38 percent of Texas' population could face water shortages during droughts in the next 50 years unless cities and other water use groups reduce demand or develop additional water sources, according to the 2002 State Water Plan.Desalination is seen as a way to produce more fresh water for the state's 21 million residents without building more reservoirs or pulling more water from underground aquifers. Advantages in technology have also made it less costly than in the past.
[...]
Texas has about 100 desalination plants producing 400 million gallons of fresh water from surface and groundwater. A groundbreaking was scheduled Friday in Brownsville for a new plant that should be in operation by next summer, ending residents' dependence on the unreliable Rio Grande.
This week the state took an even bigger step when the Texas Water Development Board identified three proposed sites for a large-scale demonstration seawater desalination project on the Gulf coast, the culmination of a study ordered in April 2002 by Gov. Rick Perry.
The Texas Water Development Board has a page with more information.
*shimmering fade-in*
Maybe Perry will have a vision and pull the government out of the utility industry and privatize everything. Perhaps he'll see an easy way to save the state money by offloading the utility bureaucracy. He'd see it as a way to please free-market Republicans and libertarians in Texas, give a huge opportunity to entrepreneurs and businesses around the state to develop utility capacity, and reduce the tax burden on Texans.
*shimmering fade-out*
I wish.
This great and prosperous land must become a single nation of justice and opportunity. We must continue our advance toward full equality for every citizen, which demands ... a guarantee of civil rights for all.Any suggestion that the segregated past was acceptable or positive is offensive and it is wrong. Recent comments by Senator Lott do not reflect the spirit of our country.
He has apologized, and rightly so. Every day our nation was segregated was a day that America was unfaithful to our founding ideals.
Bush should have done this a while ago, but at least is fixes Ari Fleischer's poor statement that Bush "has confidence in him as Republican leader, unquestionably."
However, I noticed this in the recent Bush statement that jumped out at me:
And the founding ideals of our nation and, in fact, the founding ideals of the political party I represent was and remains today the equal dignity and equal rights of every American.
The Republican Party stands on the principle of equal rights and dignity for "every" American? I think it's pretty obvious the "pro-family" and most of the Religious Right sects of the GOP have a distinct problem with homosexuals and homosexuality. Bush seems (ignore the rhetoric in the article, the facts the author presents are what I'm pointing at) to have a decent record of respecting homosexuals. Hopefully the anti-homosexual elements within his party will wake up and reconcil their desire for liberty with their stance towards gays, which has nothing to do with liberty. It's hypocrisy of the highest order and they explain it away with religion.
While browsing through Animeboards, I came across a member asking an open-ended question to us about how Americans would define the so-called American Dream. After passing it over, I decided to go back and give it a shot. My answer is below:
The American Dream, as the phrase is usually tossed around, is about specific, subjective things unique to each person who dreams it. However, the bedrock underneath those dreams is the fundamental right to one's life and to decide how to live it. When people dream about saving lives through medicine, becoming President, making themselves rich, or quietly living with those you love, what they are really dreaming about is the freedom to do so. Without freedom, the dream remains just that: a dream.Charles Hueter
Austin, TX
UPDATE(6/6/2003 12:25pm)
Continued here.
A prison sentence for saying "burning Bush"
A man who made a remark about a "burning Bush" during the president's March 2001 trip to Sioux Falls was sentenced Friday to 37 months in prison.Richard Humphreys of Portland, Oregon was convicted in September of threatening to kill or harm the president and said he plans to appeal. He has said the comment was a prophecy protected under his right to free speech.
Can we stop this please? I agree that our freedom of speech stops once someone makes a direct and credible threat which that person is demonstrably capable of carrying out. However, resting a case on a single comment made in the context of a casual bar discussion is beyond my sense of reasonability. The quick scan of Google I did brought up no other information other than this "burning Bush" line and a remark that "someone" could pour a flammable substance on Bush and ignite it. Hardly a threat to take seriously, in my opinion. Certainly NOT worth a 37-month prison term.
From this Findlaw AP repost:
A federal jury in Sioux Falls, S.D., took just over an hour to return a guilty verdict last week in the case of an Oregon man accused of making threats against President Bush.[...]
Humphreys, who calls himself prophet Israel Humphreys, said a similar reference he made in an Internet Christian chat room was a joke and that neither can be viewed as a threat on the president.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Ridgeway said the Secret Service and people who heard the remark thought otherwise.
"It wasn't a joke. It wasn't funny. Simply put, it was a threat," Ridgeway told the jury during Humphreys' trial.
[...]
Humphreys said he left Portland on March 1, 2001, and arrived in Watertown on March 8 where he got into a 1:20 a.m. barroom discussion with a truck driver about Christians who drink too much alcohol.
Realizing that President Bush was to visit Sioux Falls the next day, a bartender told police that Humphreys talked about a "burning Bush" and the possibility of someone pouring a flammable liquid on Bush and lighting it.
"I said God might speak to the world through a burning Bush... . I had said that before and I thought it was funny. It was prophetizing," Humphreys testified.
He was taken into custody the next day at a Sioux Falls motel just hours before the president arrived. Humphreys said he didn't threaten the president and didn't know he was visiting Sioux Falls.
I'm fearing we're getting too touchy about this shit.
Sadly, Republicans rarely act like they should in the face of "needy" constituents
In what will likely be the last public speech of his 30-year career, U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms bade farewell Monday to some of his most loyal constituents: Tar Heel farmers. "I come to you this morning to pay my respects to you and to tell you I love you," the North Carolina Republican said to about 500 members of the N.C. Farm Bureau at their annual statewide convention in Greensboro. "Please know that I'm going to be your friend, as long as I live."[...]
Helms, a former chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, also blessed his successor, U.S. Sen.-elect Elizabeth Dole, who introduced him to the crowd.
Dole will be "your second true friend in a row in the United States Senate," Helms said. "She's your friend. I can guarantee you that."The changing of the guard comes at a time when the state's farmers are struggling to turn a profit and tobacco farmers in particular are looking to Washington for help with a quota buyout. In her remarks, Dole pledged to push buyout legislation, saying it was needed "to secure the future of our tobacco farmers."
Blegh. It never ends in these farming communities around the States. They're political power and constant bitching are what gave us the bloated shithouse of a farm bill.
The market gets progressively worse each year for those family farmers or individuals who want to farm to make a living. I no longer think there is any economic reason to try it anymore, unless you grow a niche product being passed over by larger companies. Yet they insist on preserving their way of life at the expense of others. Prop up their prices. Subsidize their expenses. Meanwhile, these American and European socialist acts are ruining the third-world farming community, which actually CAN still produce usefully and fruitfully.
When I have trouble meeting bills, I first turn to cutting my expenses. There's only so much efficiency available to be had in small farming operations. These are commodities, so transactions are generally only profitable when done in bulk. Either the small farmers need to sell out and go work for the large businesses, or they need to find another line of work. Economic advancement means old industries are either replaced or consolidated. This is no different with Western farmers, whose countries have moved far beyond their agrarian roots.
Get stuck with 19,800 pennies as your last paycheck
One Abilene woman may never ask for change again after picking up her last paycheck. Her boss wanted to show her how inconvenient it is when employees don't show up to work.So, when she picked up her last paycheck, she found cardboard boxes filled with more than 19,800 pennies.
What's more, when she tried to get someone to help carries the penny payout to her car, she was told she had to do it herself.
A penny weighs 2.5 grams, so 19,800 pennies would weigh 49500 grams. Approximately 109 pounds of pennies. I'm sure she had a fun time explaining that to the bank she went to afterwards.
1.8 million Afghan refugees coming home
Another benefit of clearing Afghanistan of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
The new plan was announced after a meeting between Aftab Sherpao, Pakistan's minister for border affairs, and Enayatullah Nazari, Afghanistan's minister for refugee affairs. If carried out, it would nearly empty the crowded and often unhealthy camps in Pakistan.Another 1 million Afghan refugees are currently living in Iran.
Millions of refugees have fled Afghanistan since the 1979 Soviet invasion started nearly a quarter century of war. The refugees have been returning in droves since a U.S.-led bombing campaign ousted the hardline Taliban regime late last year.
The refugee return from Pakistan would be staggered over the three year period, according to Sherpao.
If these people are passionate about their homeland, if they want to better their lives, and if they desire to return home and create a country worthy of respect, then I wish them the best. There is much to be done.
He will be paid a salary approaching $25 million to star in "Fury Road" for original "Mad Max" director George Miller, who has been crafting the script for the last three years. Once again, Mad Max will roam the lawless, post-apocalpytic Australian outback.The project is set up at Twentieth Century Fox. Studio insiders say the $104 million project will begin shooting in Australia next May as the targeted start date.
[...]
Talks started in earnest about 10 months ago, shortly after Icon signed a two-year first-look production deal with 20th Century Fox, ending a long-term association with Paramount. Then, at the start of the summer, secret script readings began in the kitchen of Gibson's Icon Prods. partner, Bruce Davey.
As long as they keep the "silent bad-ass" quality of Gibson's character intact, I'm all for this. Would make a great DVD box set.
Harry Knowles of course, is all over this story.
I mean, it sure must be reassuring to have all those "essential services" at the beck and call of the California legislature. Simply amazing to put so much at the mercy of politics when it's hardly any of their busniess to begin with.
With its huge economy stalled and state revenues plunging, California has descended into its worst budget crisis in a decade and is now facing an excruciating round of budget cuts and possible tax increases.State officials are proposing deep reductions in education, health services and other programs to deal with a budget shortfall that could total $25 billion in the next 18 months.
"That's a hole so deep and so vast that even if we fired every single person on the state payroll — every park ranger, every college professor and every Highway Patrol officer — we would still be more than $6 billion short," said the Assembly speaker, Herb J. Wesson Jr., a Democrat.
Gov. Gray Davis announced a series of steps on Friday intended to save $10.2 billion to plug a deepening hole in the current budget and to serve as a prelude to even deeper cuts in next year's. Mr. Davis proposed freezing pay for state workers and warned of large-scale layoffs. As many as 200,000 people could lose their health coverage under the state Medi-Cal program. Payments to public schools and universities could fall by more than $3 billion.
And that is just the start. In January the governor must propose a budget for the fiscal year beginning in July that needs to address an expected $15 billion shortfall in revenues. Mr. Davis has not yet proposed tax increases, but given the deficit magnitude, they appear inevitable.
Of course, not everyone sees higher taxes as the solution. Unfortunately, not enough people have the basic economic skills to understand this.
James L. Brulte, the Republican leader in the State Senate, said that raising taxes would not only be insufficient to stanch the red ink but would also throttle growth when the economy is sputtering.State output fell by 2.3 percent in 2001, according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. The group estimates that the state economy will grow by a listless 0.8 percent this year. The unemployment rate is 6.6 percent (the national rate is 6.0 percent) and is expected to be worse next year. Slow economic growth and rising joblessness cause state tax revenues to plummet and increase costs for social services.
"You can raise the alcohol tax, the tobacco tax, the car tax, the income tax and sales tax and you still have a multibillion-dollar deficit," said Mr. Brulte, who represents Rancho Cucamonga and other bedroom communities east of Los Angeles.
He said the only thing keeping the state afloat was consumer spending, which continues to grow, modestly.
"Raising taxes on consumers clearly would be counterproductive," he said. "Raising taxes on business, when we actually need business to step up and start investing more so we can continue the expansion, would also be counterproductive. Anything that has the tendency to restrain either consumer spending or business investment will lead to an even larger deficit in California."
Riding free on the backs of the business class who employ the working class and the creative class who pay for the services of the poorer class. But, naaaaaa, doesn't matter if this is all connected. What matters is taking the excess money from those who need it the least and giving it to those who need it most! Damn the consequences, we've got to be compassionate and understanding and selfless!
Whoa. Where did all this shit suddenly come from?
Lawrence Lindsey has quit and so has Paul O'Neill.
People critical of Bush's economic policies have been clamoring for the administration to "do something" about the economy. Hopefully, a new team of advisors will steer him far from decisions like the steel tarrifs and the bloated dumptruck of garbage which passed as the farm bill and aim Bush policy towards a more hands-off, tax-cutting, smaller government stance.
Respect individuals for their creative economic capability, allow them to shoulder the responsibility for their own welfare, and watch the US pull itself out of this financial slump.
UPDATE (11:00am):
Stocks have trended a bit upward at this news.
Text of O'Neill's resignation letter:
"I hereby resign my position as secretary of the Treasury.It has been a privilege to serve the nation during these challenging times. I thank you for that opportunity.
I wish you every success as you provide leadership and inspiration for America and for the world."
As a surprise birthday gift from a younger sister, I got two tickets to a George Carlin show in San Antonio. It was held at the Majestic Theater in the downtown area and the place was packed. I took a friend and we sat down for an hour long blast of vulgar ranting, obscene thought meandering, and hilarious observations.
I've wanted to see Carlin live for a long time. I've seen most of his early 90's HBO shows, bought his Braindroppings book, and a friend got me a CD boxset of his older material.
Our seats were above and beyond what I thought they'd be. I dunno if my sister did it intentionally, but they were dead center in front of the mic stand and up on the second mezzanine level. We were close enough to see him on stage and get an idea of what insane facial expression he was using at the time. Better than I had hoped.
His material has gotten both lighter and darker of the years, in my opinion. He seemingly gives less than a shit about more things, but at the same time he's grown more hostile to the shit he finds repulsive. The bulk of the middle section of his act was engaged with a long series of quick explainations of why certain people just need to be killed. This may have been the weakest part of the act because it almost became predictable, but never unshocking. He is by far the most foul-mouthed and unshy man I've ever heard. I'm pretty sure he managed to offend and eye-widen everyone in the theater at least once.
He opened with a grand ode to the benefits of not stopping when involved in a traffic accident. Human or machine - doesn't matter. Lots of new stuff to be heard here and most of it was really funny.
It's most interesting to compare how his views affect me now and how they affected me ten years ago. I've become more politically-minded and firmly aligned to pro-capitalistic ideas over time and dropped most of the anti-consumerism rhetoric. Carlin's "don't give a shit but I'm still gonna talk about it" attitude mirrors some of my new opinions, but overall, I was slighty saddened to realize that he wasn't funny for the same reasons anymore. People grow up and change. Comedians have a reputation to live up to and to expand. Carlin will never change his ways now and I hope he never does. I also hope he never gets into a position of legal power. I do like his ideas for new TV shows.
So. "Go become a cow dentist, kill someone you like, try for a good bowel movement, go get fucked, and pull out your entrails and make a hat." The world awaits you.
My dad retired from the Army a few years ago and kept his insurance with USAA, so my insurance is also USAA. I can see why he stuck with them for so long.
Each time I called the other person was courteous, helpful, and knowledgeable. I screwed up the first time I called and only made a claim on the window/car door damage. I was going to claim my stereo against my renter's insurance, but found out it wasn't covered. So I called USAA back, got a different lady, and sorted the situation out. Ms. Held was even cooler than the first lady I spoke with.
They sent a window repair service out to where I was working and that repair was done in less than 30 minutes when they said it may take 90. I didn't have to repeat any of my account information (something that annoys the piss outta me when on phone-based customer service). Ms. Held and I toured USAA's available inventory of stereos and picked one that is in nearly every aspect the same as the one I had before.
She set me up with a collision company that is hardly a two minute drive from my apartment for an appointment the next day and they found some additional dents near the point of entry which I had not seen. We've got a date set for next Monday for the repairs and they'll give me a rental for that period. I walked in at 5:15pm and they closed at 5:30pm, so they stayed open a little longer to accomodate me.
I was just impressed with the quality, speed, and usefulness of the service from all the parties involved. Especially when I was told over the phone when with USAA: "Don't worry about not knowing what to do. It's our job to see that you have to call here as infrequently as possible."
If I had opposible thumbs on my feet, I'd give them four thumbs up.
Whoever it was broke in through the passenger side window and took the JVC MP3 CD player out of my car. This is the second time I've owned a car which has been broken into, this is my second Austin theft, and this will be the second time I've had to replace this model of JVC stereo (the first time, the unit had a mechcanical failure).
I should have known better. The side of the apartment complex I live in has suffered at least eight window breakings over the last year. The face for my ex-stereo sorta invites attention, especially since it's silver framed by the black dashboard around it. I was good about taking the faceplate off, but I got lazy.
I don't think anything else was taken. The George Carlin tickets my sister gave me for Christmas, the two CD wallets, the house key in the glovebox, etc. Just a stereo my father paid $299 plus installation that perfectly fit my car and my mobile music needs.
I'll probably never find the motherfucker who did this.