On the subject of taxes, was Re: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
Gautam Mukunda quoted from someone on ABC They include a belief that government is a mechanism to solve the nation's problems; that more taxes on corporations and the wealthy are good ways to cut the deficit and raise money for social spending and don't have a negative affect on economic growth; and that emotional examples of suffering (provided by unions or consumer groups) are good ways to illustrate economic statistic stories. In my opinion taxes are a way to distribute a countries collectively earned wealth more evenly thereby providing a mechanism to protect, educate and care for the majority and extra care for those that cannot take care of themselves, without totally depriving the happy few of the niceties and luxuries their wealth brings with it. I think that is an objective most people loose sight of when arguing taxes and what is done with them. :o) Sonja GCU: Also a problem here. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Dune short story
While looking for the precise release date of "Ringworld's Children" at the Tor site, I came across a "Dune" short story by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. It takes place just before "Dune: The Butlerian Jihad." http://www.tor.com/hunting.html George A ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Kurt Vonnegut on the state of the world
Dave Land wrote: > Deborah Harrell wrote: > > > I don't recall reading any Vonnegut novels (though I'm > > sure I must have read some short stories in > > anthologies) - have to remedy that. > > Not sure whether my word has any weight for you, but I read most of what > he wrote, and have enjoyed it tremendously. His writing was one of the > few things that my very conservative Dad and I agreed on. Carries weight with me; I've read everything he's written. The only book I didn't really like was "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater." To begin reading, go to "Slaughterhouse Five" first, then "The Sirens of Titan". One of the things I've always like about Vonnegut is the religions he invents in his stories. In "The Sirens of Titan", the comes up with "The Church of God the Utterly Indifferent." "Cat's Cradle" gives us "Bokononism". And he can write! George A ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
On Thu, May 13, 2004 at 10:24:29PM -0500, Dan Minette wrote: > Indeed, IMHO, Target has often provided better value than Wal-Mart. > I've been shopping there for almost 40 years. The prices are slightly > higher, but I feel that the better quality of the material is worth > it. (e.g. the clothes last enough longer so that the price per wearing > is lower). I have shopped at numerous Target's and Walmarts in the past 10 years, in quite a few different cities, and I have not noticed any quality difference. Target usually has a slightly better SELECTION of clothing, but the quality is no different. Walmart, on the other hand, usually has lower prices and has a better selection on most everything besides clothing, and most importantly, Walmart is more likely to have the size or variation needed on the shelf, than Target. It seems to me Walmart's inventory control really works. -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
On Thu, May 13, 2004 at 08:23:15PM -0700, Gautam Mukunda wrote: > I would say that the economic policies of the Clinton Administration > pretty closely approximate my ideal (I would cut taxes and spending > more, but I can definitely live with what we had). You think so? Wait 20 years and see if you still think so. Clinton (and Bush, Bush II, and Reagan) did not manage to reduce the "spending" that really matters, the present value of future entitlement spending for the baby boomers. If that present value were included in the national debt, it would be 10 times larger. Time has already run out to some extent -- the choices now are to raise taxes by more than 50% or to see a generation of old people eating cat food in housing projects -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Pentagon admits Geneva convention violations approved?
On Thu, May 13, 2004 at 10:49:01PM -0500, Dan Minette wrote: > Doesn't an occupying power have a requirement to treat the citizens > of the occupied state humanely? It was agreed that this was inhumane > treatment, and it appears to be that it was officially approved. It fits the Bush Administration's pattern of disdaining human rights whenever it suits their purposes. I pointed this pattern out over a year ago, as have others. I'm not really surprised that this happened, although I am disappointed that it came at such a high-stakes time for the US in Iraq. The Bush Administration has totally and completely lost the strategic and idea portion of the war in Iraq, as well as the "war" against terror. The Bush administration is just pathetic. Rumsfeld squaring his shoulders and claiming he takes responsibility for what happened, all the while others pay the price for Rumsfeld's incompetence. And Bush praising Rumsfeld and saying Rumsfeld has been doing a great job. Sickening. -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: What America Does with its Hegemony
At 09:54 PM 5/13/2004, you wrote: Steve Sloan wrote: Doug Pensinger wrote: > What did the U.S. have to gain by intervening in Rwanda? Diddly squat, but that doesn't mean dedicated critics of the US couldn't come up with something. Presumably, Rwanda had something useful enough for past European imperialists to colonize the country, and the critics could use that. There have been very few critics of our intervention in Bosnia. Even those who were opposed to it at the time point to it as proof of our good intentions. > If we were successful in preventing a genocide and that was > our clear motive in interveneing, the success of our mission > would speak for itself. If, instead of asking for another > $25 B for Iraq, we put that kind of money and effort towards > ending the AIDS epidemic, who could doubt our motive was pure? Critics would claim the politicians who proposed it were using African AIDS victims as an excuse for taking money from taxpayers, and giving it to their buddies in the pharmaceutical companies. > Only those who have dishonest motives themselves. France's dishonest motives for opposing the war in Iraq haven't hurt them so far. Are you sure about that? Were _all_ of France's motives for opposing the war dishonest? And are you so sure that some in the U.S. don't have motives that are less than honest? Whatever their motives, at this point it sure looks like the French (Chineese, Russians, Germans, Canadians etc. etc.) had the right idea. -- Doug Sure they had the right idea. Filling up their treasuries and lining individual pockets with stolen lucre and sweetheart deals while innocents died by the thousands, ten thousand a month.who wouldn't support that? Kevin T. - VRWC Devil in the details ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
At 08:23 PM 5/13/2004 -0700 Gautam Mukunda wrote: > If President >Clinton had not had a Republican Congress - then >things would have been very different. Yeah, HillaryCare was defeated by what, one vote? (In a Democratic Congress no less.) But to listen to Dan tell it, you would think that after Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 he attacked balancing the budget with a single-minded focus. JDG ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
--- JDG <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > But to listen to Dan tell it, you would think that > after Bill Clinton was > elected in 1992 he attacked balancing the budget > with a single-minded focus. > > JDG Relative to our current President, he's right, sadly enough. = Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price. http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Yay!
Ritu wrote: ... So this morning, after six long years, I woke up to an India whose next govt wouldn't dismiss secularism as 'leftist appeasement/cowardly reaction', wouldn't offend me by insisting that some citizens live on the sufferance of others, wouldn't infuriate me by acting as if the carnage of 2002 was 'understandable' or [even worse] 'expected' Mind you, BJP's defeat is not a panacea and Congress *would* infuriate me too but for now, BJP's exit is a good enough reason to celebrate. :) Is the replacing government well equipped to make changes? Or is it just more of the same but with a different undercurrent? I still don't understand how an originally born Italian can be a well equipped prime minister of the largest democracy in the world. Can she really have enough background to handle this? Sonja :o) GCU: Interested in this form of globalization ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Pentagon admits Geneva convention violations approved?
Gautam Mukunda wrote: --- Dan Minette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: If this is true, then it is an extremely serious manner. It would be admitting deliberate, systematic, authorized violations of the Geneva Convention. That is not just the actions of a few bad apples. It seems to me to be high level illegal orders. I'll stand being corrected by someone who better understands the military, but I cannot see how a general could legally order his reports to delibrately violate a treaty agreed to by the United States. Dan M. I don't know the details (am still at work at 11:00pm, so I'm not exactly following the news) but it's not clear that insurgents captured in Iraq are covered by the Geneva Conventions, for the same reasons we've gone over on this list on several occasions. I know you are an avid defender of, to the rest of the world, untennable positions when it comes to the rights of your government in respect to other countries. I also know that you are an just as avid critic of other countries who apply exactly the same logic and reasoning for exactly the same kind of measures taken against US citizens but come on... you cannot be serious? Your government had the right to torture civilians at will because they weren't official combatants and because they had the extreme bad luck to be in US occupied teritory? Not even gonne mention the legallity of that occupation. In my opinion the torture (because that is what it was) of people who haven't officially, in all openness and through due process been established as criminals is beyond any form of humane conduct no matter under which convention you will or will not classify it and as such cannot be defended and should be punished in an international or Iraqui court of law. If these victims would have at least been officially established as being involved in actions against the occupation forces it would have been marginally understandable and slightly more justifiable although I would still consider it no less dispicable. And then the US still doesn't want its's soldiers to be tried under international law in a well established international court of law. Makes perfect sense after this. Sonja :o) ROU: Please tell me I got it wrong ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Shopping Re: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
From the subject line, one might wonder just what you have been shopping for . . . Other Possible Wisecracks Withheld Out Of Respect Maru -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
JAG shut out of the writing of the rules for interrogation?
At http://tinyurl.com/274uz The head of the New York bar association has stated that a number of high ranking military lawyers came to him complaining that they were shut out of the drawing up of the rules for interrogation in Iraq. The only motivation for this that I can think of is the fear that the military lawyers would point out that the expansion of the rules would be illegal. Instead, according to the story, civilian "political" laywers were used. As far as I am concerned, the administration is looking worse and worse in this. When all is said and done, they may be seen to have caused more damage to the armed forces of the US than anyone one else over the last 20 years. A group of senior military lawyers were so concerned about changes in the rules designed to safeguard prisoners during interrogation that they sought help outside the Defense Department, according to a New York lawyer who headed a recent study of how prisoners have been treated in the war on terrorism. The military lawyers were part of the Army Judge Advocate General's office, which in the past has played a role in ensuring that interrogators did not violate prisoners' rights. "They were extremely upset. They said they were being shut out of the process, and that the civilian political lawyers, not the military lawyers, were writing these new rules of engagement," said Scott Horton, who was chairman of the New York City Bar Assn. committee that filed a report this month on the interrogation of detainees by the U.S. As always, I am open to additional information and interpreation. I'd be happy to see that things are not as bad for the US as I now think. I'll argue, of course; but I am actually trying to understand. Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Shopping Re: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
"Ronn!Blankenship" wrote: > > From the subject line, one might wonder just what you have been shopping > for . . . > Hm. Well, to tie it in to SF, read _Barrayar_ by Lois McMaster Bujold and then get back to me on the subject line. Julia Thread Drift Maru ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
> From: Gautam Mukunda [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > any single actor in the American system. If President > Clinton had not had a Republican Congress - then > things would have been very different. If that same > Republican Congress had not had a Democratic President > - then things would have been very different. I think > "economic policy" is a little too broad to be called a > program, though. My brother has a theory that a Democratic president and a Republican Congress is the only way we'll ever see a truly balanced budget again. Each side stopping the other from their pet spending sprees and their taxing sprees. What do you think? - jmh ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Rediculous loosers
When did the spelling of 'ridiculous' and 'lose' get changed, and why
didn't I get the memo?
Is it some kind of l33t spelling or just ignorance?
('Loosers' always makes me think of incontinence pants...)
--
William T Goodall
Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/
"A bad thing done for a good cause is still a bad thing. It's why so
few people slap their political opponents. That, and because slapping
looks so silly." - Randy Cohen.
___
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Rediculous loosers
William T Goodall wrote:
When did the spelling of 'ridiculous' and 'lose' get changed, and why
didn't I get the memo?
The "Speling Simplifikashun Ak of 2004" was pasd by kongres and synd by
President-for-life Bush right after the kansilashun of the elekshunz.
Is it some kind of l33t spelling or just ignorance?
I attribute it to speed, though not the kind that comes in pills. I
think people are just moving fast, don't bother to check their spelling.
In general, calling out spelling errors is considered bad form on most
online communities. If nothing else, it takes the discussion off-topic.
In keeping with that spirit, this community is fairly relaxed about
spelling errors. In fact, it may be the /only/ thing we're relaxed
about. Try mentioning religion in a positive sense and see what I mean :-).
I'm hoping to be the first to respon to you to head off the inevitable
tongue-lashing from the self-styled list cops.
('Loosers' always makes me think of incontinence pants...)
ROFL. Oops, I need to change my Loosers.
Dave
Looser than what?
___
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Kurt Vonnegut on the state of the world
G. D. Akin wrote: Carries weight with me; I've read everything he's written. The only book I didn't really like was "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater." To begin reading, go to "Slaughterhouse Five" first, then "The Sirens of Titan". Yes, and don't stop there. Vonnegut's books are not only hilarious in their overall construction, but they are beautifully written, filled with tiny moments of crystalline beauty: "To the as-yet-unborn, to all innocent wisps of undifferentiated nothingness: Watch out for life." (The opening words of Deadeye Dick) The best thing of all for me is that I discovered him when I was about 14 or 15 years old, which was a perfect time to read him. If you ever have a chance to see the 1971 public television production "Between Time and Timbuktu or Prometheus-5, a Space Fantasy," do. It's a blenderized version of Vonnegut's work prior to that date (sadly, being stuck in time, they didn't include any of his later works). He says of the screenplay: "This book is said to have been written by me. And I did write it, too, pretty much -- over the past twenty-two years. But it would never have occurred to me to put my words in this particular order I began to fool around with the script myself. I grafted the head of a box turtle onto the neck of a giraffe, so to speak -- and so on. Amazingly, chillingly, hilariously, the impossible creature lived for a little while. It was clumsy, funny-looking, and almost pathetically eager to please." Dave ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Yay!
Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten wrote: Is the replacing government well equipped to make changes? Or is it just more of the same but with a different undercurrent? I still don't understand how an originally born Italian can be a well equipped prime minister of the largest democracy in the world. Can she really have enough background to handle this? At any rate, having grown up in Italy since WWII, she's pretty accustomed to replacing governments! Dave, who wonders how Italy can possibly have had something like 60 governments in 50 years. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Rediculous loosers
Dave Land wrote: > > William T Goodall wrote: > > When did the spelling of 'ridiculous' and 'lose' get changed, and why > > didn't I get the memo? > > The "Speling Simplifikashun Ak of 2004" was pasd by kongres and synd by > President-for-life Bush right after the kansilashun of the elekshunz. > > > Is it some kind of l33t spelling or just ignorance? > > I attribute it to speed, though not the kind that comes in pills. I > think people are just moving fast, don't bother to check their spelling. > In general, calling out spelling errors is considered bad form on most > online communities. If nothing else, it takes the discussion off-topic. > In keeping with that spirit, this community is fairly relaxed about > spelling errors. In fact, it may be the /only/ thing we're relaxed > about. Try mentioning religion in a positive sense and see what I mean :-). You mean I've wasted maybe as much as 20 minutes so far this year consulting the dictionary? :) Julia but my grandmother might spin in her grave if I didn't -- she was a champion speller ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Kurt Vonnegut on the state of the world
Dave Land wrote: > > G. D. Akin wrote: > > > Carries weight with me; I've read everything he's written. The only book I > > didn't really like was "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater." > > > > To begin reading, go to "Slaughterhouse Five" first, then "The Sirens of > > Titan". > > Yes, and don't stop there. Absolutely! I think that everyone in the known universe should read "Player Piano", but that's just me. :) My sister loved (and encouraged me to read) "Breakfast of Champions" when she was 14 and I was 16. We both thought that one was great. And then she proceeded to buy and read a lot of his stuff over the next 2 years, some of which I borrowed. And we got his stuff out of the library, too. Vonnegut was one author both enjoyed a lot together. Not that many authors we did that with for non-children's books Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Fox news: Iraq Torture Scandal: 'morally superior racism'
Robert Seeberger wrote: To some degree, *We* are the barbarians at the gate. We have shamed ourselves in front of the world, and that makes me feel ashamed *and* angry. (Note that I am not pointing a finger and blaming soldiers or presidents. As an American I figure I have to share some of the blame since *I* *am* a part of a set of people who should accept the stopped buck, resolve to stand together, and make definite plans to improve for the future.) Amen. Like it of not, when we send soldiers to Iraq, they become representatives of America. No matter how much ordinary Americans, the soldiers' comrades-in-arms, our Secretary of Defense or our President try to distance ourselves from their actions, they represent us to the world. If we do not send extraordinary souls to do extraordinary work, we should not expect extraordinary results. I don't hate America, as some would have it because I dare to want us to be what we claim to be, but I am smart enough to realize that lots of people in the world are looking for validation of *their* hatred and have found it. Puh-leeze don't lecture me about how unimportant the opinion of the rest of the world is to you. If you really don't care about the rest of the world, then petition to bring our troops home to defend Fortress America. Dave He Who Lives By The Sword Maru ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Kurt Vonnegut on the state of the world
I have liked all of Vonnegut's. Some of his more recent I don't feel works as well. I loved 'God Bless You Mr. Rosewater' and 'Mother Night.' They are not science fiction but have strong moral points. Except for one or two short stories everything else of his I've read is science fiction although you will not find him in the science fiction section of the library. Gary Denton Notebook - http://elemming.blogspot.com Easter Lemming Liberal News Digest http://elemming2.blogspot.com On Fri, 14 May 2004 13:18:29 -0500, Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dave Land wrote: > > > > G. D. Akin wrote: > > > > > Carries weight with me; I've read everything he's written. The only book I > > > didn't really like was "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater." > > > > > > To begin reading, go to "Slaughterhouse Five" first, then "The Sirens of > > > Titan". > > > > Yes, and don't stop there. > > Absolutely! > > I think that everyone in the known universe should read "Player Piano", > but that's just me. :) > > My sister loved (and encouraged me to read) "Breakfast of Champions" > when she was 14 and I was 16. We both thought that one was great. And > then she proceeded to buy and read a lot of his stuff over the next 2 > years, some of which I borrowed. And we got his stuff out of the > library, too. > > Vonnegut was one author both enjoyed a lot together. Not that many > authors we did that with for non-children's books > >Julia > > ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Kurt Vonnegut on the state of the world
> Dave Land <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Deborah Harrell wrote: > > > I don't recall reading any Vonnegut novels (though > >I'm sure I must have read some short stories in > > anthologies) - have to remedy that. > Vonnegut skewers left, right, center and dimensions > that even > Libertarians don't measure. He seems to enjoy > piercing pride more than just about anything else. > ...Of course, I have no idea if this is what he > intended, but he's > talking about the psychological concept of > "thrownness," and he > describes it better than many articles that purport > to be /about/ > thrownness. I've always described it as being rather > like the game > "Myst" (if you recall that)*, only in this one, there > are lots of other > people, many of whom are trying to screw you and > each other (using any > definition of that word that you like), nobody > actually knows what the > whole point of the game is, there's stuff here that > can /kill/ you (and > sometimes laughs about it) and there's no easy way > to quit. There's a term that's new to me...sounds like the state one is in after being unceremoniously dumped by a sneaky equine... ;) Thanks also to G.D., Julia and Gary for the recs. Debbi Play Mysty For Me Maru ;) *(I never did play that one) __ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price. http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Vampires (was: Neanderthal)
> Doug Pensinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Debbi wrote: > > who admits to having a bit of a thing for > > vampires-struggling-to-overcome-their-bloodlust... > ;} > Too much Barnibus (sp?) as a youth? I think it's Barnibas -- wasn't 'Dark Shadows' a deliciously wicked thing to watch, for a child? ;D Of course, I saw a couple of episodes on some channel last summer...what a hokey, dumb, badly acted excuse of a show! But he _did_ set the stage for Nicholas Knight, Angel and Spike (yeah, the last two are too young for me, but I still enjoy the characters). Julia wrote: "I like P.N. Elrod for that sort of thing. :)" Yet another author to add to my 'should read some by' list... Debbi Whaddaya Mean LeCroix Isn't Reformable? Maru __ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price. http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Sah'ot invents a new form of poetry.
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Sah'ot's Poetic Form > The civilian poet anthropologist. The dolphin > civilian poet anthropologist > He can't write dolphin poetry--that'd be too > revealing. > So he has to invent a new form of poetry > Holo-cubism. > If you place yourself inside of the holocube, you > can read six > poems on the cubes six faces. Say six haiku of 5,7,5 > syllables. > > If the observer spacially stays still and the cube > rotates, the lines change > and you get six new poems. But not using any new > text! > > Maybe a word from the third line now appears on the > first line. Maybe a world > flips upon the face of the cube and "saw" becomes > "was." >Now step outside of the cube and look through two > faces at the same time. The > words on both the close and far face flip so that > they can be read You're > looking directly through the near and far face to > read a single _double_ haiku of > 10, 14, and 10 syllables. >...And if you stand the cube on an edge, you have four > faces to look at. You > actually wind up reading a single poem of six lines > of 10, 14, 10. 10, 14, and 10 syllables. >That's seventy-two poems in all. > > All from six haiku... You could have the audience participate too, in a beatnik sort of way - "Wow, that's *happenin'* man!...Groovy!" Debbi Sunlight Through Snowfall Hummingbirds Shimmer And Swoop Iced Fire, Living Gems (Maru) __ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price. http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Kurt Vonnegut on the state of the world
Deborah Harrell wrote: [extensive snippage] ...Of course, I have no idea if this is what he intended, but he's talking about the psychological concept of "thrownness," and he describes it better than many articles that purport to be /about/ thrownness. There's a term that's new to me...sounds like the state one is in after being unceremoniously dumped by a sneaky equine... ;) I think it originated with Martin Heidegger in his _Being and Time_. As I remind myself about it further (thank you, Google), I remember that it is as much philosophical as it is psychological -- it is in the area of personality theory. It's described in some detail in a paper at http://www.focusing.org/apm_papers/fox.html. As for your observation, horses are too smart for me. They know that they can kill me without hardly trying, and have attempted to do so once or twice. Dave ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Scouted: Gang Member = Terrorist
Anybody who murders, rapes or commits other violent- crimes-against-persons needs to be caught and prosecuted 'to the max' IMO, but does that make them a terrorist? http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/14/gang.terror.ap/index.html "NEW YORK (AP) -- Nineteen members of a street gang accused of menacing their neighborhood have been indicted on murder and other charges as acts of terror, believed to be the first use of the state's anti-terrorism law against a gang Charging that the St. James Gang acted with "the intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population," Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said the grand jury was justified in adding the terrorism stipulation to several counts including conspiracy, murder and gang assault. Johnson said it was the first time he was aware that the terrorism statute had been used in such a way. The law, passed by the state Legislature six days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, allows for more severe sentences. Edgar Morales, 22, who was arrested Thursday, faces the most serious charge, second-degree murder as a terrorist act, for the shooting death of a 10-year-old girl in August 2002 at a baptism party If convicted on that charge, Morales, who also faces several other charges, would face a mandatory life sentence without parole. The charge without the terrorism stipulation would carry a sentence of 25 years to life" I think that anybody who kills "by accident" when they were literally gunning for someone else should be convicted of murder (not homicide or any other lesser charge), but I wouldn't call this guy a "terrorist." He might be a piece of scum, and I might even agree with a life sentence, but I wouldn't call him a child molester either. This seems wrong to me. Debbi __ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price. http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Scouted: Another animal invader
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040514/ap_on_sc/alien_fish "ROCKVILLE, Md. - A second northern snakehead has been caught by a fisherman in the Potomac River, Maryland officials said, a sign that the destructive alien species may have invaded the Washington area's largest river "The discovery comes nearly a week after a fisherman caught a similar sized snakehead May 7 in a small tidal creek near Mount Vernon, Va., just across the river from Fort Washington. That has led state environmental officials to worry that the voracious fish that can destroy an ecosystem and live out of water may be spawning in the Potomac "One snakehead was caught in a Wheaton lake earlier this year and thousands were discovered in a Crofton pond in 2002. The Wheaton lake was drained and declared snakehead free while the Crofton pond was poisoned to kill the fish. But it would be impossible to use those kind of control methods in the Potomac, a large river that forms the border between Virginia and Maryland and flows into the Chesapeake Bay "Native to China, snakeheads are voracious predators, sitting on the top of the food chain and devouring smaller fish. They are considered a delicacy in some Asian countries, and were often sold in Asian markets or kept in tanks by collectors. They are harmless to humans" I bet Zimmie is sorry he's missing out on the great cicada outbreak of the East - he sure had fun with with the local variety last summer. He'd catch one, hold it in his open mouth, and shake it to make it buzz - one of the sillier things I've seen a cat do. :) Debbi *How* Many Hit Points From That Hummingbird Attack!? Maru __ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price. http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Animal Invasions
On 14 May 2004, at 12:16 am, Robert Seeberger wrote: They're Here -- Cicada Cycle Fascinates U.S. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/20040512/us_nm/ science_cicadas_dc_7&printer=1 http://tinyurl.com/3fx74 Thanks for posting that, it was an amusing read. Nothing to add Maru -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." - Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Scouted: Gang Member = Terrorist
> Anybody who murders, rapes or commits other violent- > crimes-against-persons needs to be caught and prosecuted 'to > the max' IMO, but does that make them a terrorist? My knee-jerk reaction to this was that this was yet another case of authority abuse and overkill, but after thinking it over, I'm not so sure about that anymore. I don't think that I have ever heard of a gang getting together to pick up garbage or make a social call to the local senior center. Usually gang activity is reported as turf wars, theft, murder, violence, etc. How many times have we read or heard stories about gang members being required to murder innocent people (or some other asinine stunt) as an initiation? Granted, that may not be considered the "norm", but it isn't unheard of either. If a group of people (foreign or domestic) use violence, threats and intimidation to manipulate or terrorize others, then yes, they could be labeled as terrorists. (oops, that also describes some recent acts of some military personnel) Ask someone that has had to live with, or deal with gangs, if they would have any problem labeling them terrorists, or if the gangs act any different than terrorists. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
At 06:08 AM 5/14/2004 -0700 Gautam Mukunda wrote: >--- JDG <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> But to listen to Dan tell it, you would think that >> after Bill Clinton was >> elected in 1992 he attacked balancing the budget >> with a single-minded focus. >> >> JDG > >Relative to our current President, he's right, sadly enough. And thus our current President presided over one of the mildest recessions ever - even after the bursting of an asset bubble no less! Coincidence?I think not. JDG - Who would point out that Clinton's first initaive as President was a spending increase styled as a "simulus bill" - not exactly a budget-balancing initiative. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Vampires (was: Neanderthal)
On 14 May 2004, at 11:44 pm, Deborah Harrell wrote: Doug Pensinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Debbi wrote: who admits to having a bit of a thing for vampires-struggling-to-overcome-their-bloodlust... ;} Too much Barnibus (sp?) as a youth? I think it's Barnibas -- wasn't 'Dark Shadows' a deliciously wicked thing to watch, for a child? ;D Of course, I saw a couple of episodes on some channel last summer...what a hokey, dumb, badly acted excuse of a show! But he _did_ set the stage for Nicholas Knight, Angel and Spike (yeah, the last two are too young for me, but I still enjoy the characters). So you like much older men? :) Given that young Spike is ~150 or so and Angel another 100 or so years older... OTOH James Marsters is 42 in August and David Boreanaz was born 16th May 1971, so it's his 33rd birthday Sunday! -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Misuse of IMPs leads to strange, difficult-to-diagnose bugs. - Anguish et al. "Cocoa Programming" ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Hoax Iraq pictures
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3716151.stm "Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan has been sacked after the newspaper conceded photos of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi were fake. In a statement the Mirror said it had fallen victim to a "calculated and malicious hoax" and that it would be "inappropriate" for Morgan to continue. The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR) said the Mirror had endangered British troops by running the pictures. Roger Goodman, of the QLR, said the regiment now felt "vindicated". Mr Goodman added: "It is just a great pity it has taken so long... and that so much damage has been done in the meantime." At a news conference in Preston on Friday afternoon, the regiment demonstrated to reporters aspects of uniform and equipment which it said proved the photographs were fake. The regiment's Brigadier Geoff Sheldon said the vehicle featured in the photographs had been located in a Territorial Army base in Lancashire and had never been in Iraq." -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it. -- Donald E. Knuth ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Kurt Vonnegut on the state of the world
Julia Thompson wrote: > Dave Land wrote: > > > > G. D. Akin wrote: > > > > > Carries weight with me; I've read everything he's written. The only book I > > > didn't really like was "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater." > > > > > > To begin reading, go to "Slaughterhouse Five" first, then "The Sirens of > > > Titan". > > > > Yes, and don't stop there. > > Absolutely! > > I think that everyone in the known universe should read "Player Piano", > but that's just me. :) > > My sister loved (and encouraged me to read) "Breakfast of Champions" > when she was 14 and I was 16. We both thought that one was great. And > then she proceeded to buy and read a lot of his stuff over the next 2 > years, some of which I borrowed. And we got his stuff out of the > library, too. > > Vonnegut was one author both enjoyed a lot together. Not that many > authors we did that with for non-children's books --- I agree, don't stop at my two top suggestions, read ALL. "Player Piano" is wonderful. "Breakfast of Champions", "Slapstick", and "Cat's Cradle" will have you ROTFLOL and making you stop and think. One word of caution: DO NOT watch the movie version of "Breakfast of Champions"; it is terrible. On the gripping hand, "Slaughterhouse Five" is pretty good on film. George A ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Beheading Avenges Prison Abuse
--- JDG <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > And thus our current President presided over one of > the mildest recessions > ever - even after the bursting of an asset bubble no > less! Well, true enough, but: 1. How much of that is he responsible for? Probably a lot. Let's be fair. The President applied a level of fiscal stimulus to the economy that we probably haven't seen since the Great Depression. Given the underlying health of the American economy, would the recession have been far worse otherwise? Maybe. I don't know the answer to that question - and neither does anyone else, to be honest. 2. What were the long term consequences of those actions? That, I think, is the more important question. I have, on occasion, written on this list on the limitations of long term planning. True enough. But there are things that we can see. While I don't think that the entitlement problem is in any sense catastrophic - given recent increases in productivity, it may, in fact, be entirely manageable. But it still _has to be managed_. And recent economic policy has made that immeasurably more difficult, and it's only likely to get worse. The tax code is far less progressive than it was - and I happen to think that's a bad thing. Government spending has shot through the roof, and the war doesn't even _begin_ to explain that. It is certainly fair and appropriate to pay for war spending with debt. That is what Ronald Reagan did, and I think that was appropriate. But _some_ tax increases, or at least holding off on tax cuts, to pay for the war was necessary. The long term damage to America's fiscal health may well be quite significant - and only success in Iraq could possibly make up for that in an evaluation of the Bush Presidency, in my opinion, at least. = Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price. http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Russia Flat Tax
April 26, 2004 The Flat Tax at Work in Russia: Year Three by Alvin Rabushka On January 1, 2001, a 13% flat-rate tax on personal income took effect in Russia. (The general principles and beneficial economic effects of the flat tax appear in The Flat Tax.) Russia's 13% flat tax replaced a three-bracket system, which imposed a top rate of 30% on taxable income exceeding $5,000. The flat tax has been remarkably successful by every conceivable measure, and has encouraged such other countries as Serbia (2003), Ukraine (2004), and Slovakia (2004) to implement flat taxes of their own. Political parties in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Georgia have announced their support for the flat tax and there is interest in Bulgaria and Romania. Even China has taken the step of translating The Flat Tax into Chinese for consideration by the Ministry of Finance. Let's review Russia's 13% flat tax since its implementation on January 1, 2001. In 2001, personal income tax (PIT) revenue totaled R255.5 billion, an increase of 46.7% in nominal rubles, or 25.2% in real rubles after adjusting for inflation of 21.5%. PIT revenue as a share of consolidated budget tax revenue rose from 12.1% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2001. Since economic growth of 5.1% in 2001 was lower than the post-Soviet record 10.0% growth in 2000, the rise in revenue cannot be attributed solely, or even largely, to growth in 2001. (For a detailed treatment of Russia's 13% flat tax, see The Flat Tax at Work in Russia.") In 2002, PIT revenue amounted to R357.1 billion, an increase of 39.7% over 2001. After adjusting for inflation of 15.1%, real revenue rose 24.6%, supplying 15.3% of the consolidated budget. GDP growth in 2002 was 4.7%, a small decline over 2001. (See The Flat Tax at Work in Russia: Year Two.") In 2003, PIT revenue generated R449.8 billion, a nominal gain of 27.2% over 2002. After adjusting for inflation of 12.0%, real revenue increased 15.2%, supplying 17% of consolidated budget revenue. GDP growth in 2003 was a more robust 7.3%. Only corporate income tax and value added tax generated more revenue than the PIT. The composition of PIT revenue in 2003 was as follows: taxes assessed on income at the 13% rate generated 96.9% of all PIT revenue; taxes on dividends, assessed at a higher 30% rate, 1.9%; and taxes on non-residents and individual entrepreneurs, 0.9%. In the three years since the top rate of PIT was reduced from 30% to 13%, real flat tax revenue has risen by 79.7%. Russia's budget is relatively healthy. Tax compliance has improved. And incentives to work, save, and invest remain strong. (Anjela and Diana Kniazeva, graduate students in the Department of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University, provided research assistance for the preparation of this article.) Kevin T. - VRWC Only a few weeks late ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Rediculous loosers
Julia Thompson wrote: ... > > The "Speling Simplifikashun Ak of 2004" was pasd by kongres and synd by > > President-for-life Bush right after the kansilashun of the elekshunz. > > ... > > In keeping with that spirit, this community is fairly relaxed about > > spelling errors. In fact, it may be the /only/ thing we're relaxed > > about. Try mentioning religion in a positive sense and see what I mean :-). > > You mean I've wasted maybe as much as 20 minutes so far this year > consulting the dictionary? :) > > Julia I'm with you there, Julia. I do enough writing where the output must be good that I have to keep working on my spelling. After awhile, it's hard to stop! Spellcheck makes it easier, but won still has two check four homophones... ---David Who confesses to not reading posts with bad spelling/grammar. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Yay!
Sonja wrote: > Is the replacing government well equipped to make changes? Well, we don't know what the composition of the govt. would be [other than it would be predominantly Congress] but there are some good men in the party and they do have long years of experience in governance. > Or is it just > more of the same but with a different undercurrent? Last I checked, the Congress is slightly less efficient than the BJP, is slightly more idiotic on a few fronts *but* it is also infinitely less dangerous for its policies are not quite as divisive as the BJP's. Congress, for all its faults, is a secular party and that is the basic difference between the two parties. > I still don't > understand how an originally born Italian can be a well > equipped prime > minister of the largest democracy in the world. Can she really have > enough background to handle this? I don't know how well Sonia would do but my reservations are based more on the fact that she is untried and was uninterested in politics [to put it mildly] than the fact that she was born an Italian. She has been in India for more than 3 decades and her circumstances have been such that she would have been hard put to avoid information about Indian politics and polity. What I don't know is how well she can translate that information into sound policies but if she does become the next PM, we'll find that out too. Fwiw, I was far less sanguine when her husband became the PM - he had been handed the post on a silver platter by a grief stricken nation. Sonia, otoh, turned down that offer 13 years ago when Rajiv was assasinated and if today she is in the same position, it is because of her own hard work, strategy and campaign. She has spent the last 6 years trying to lead her party out of the wilderness and somewhere along the way, she seems to have struck a chord with the people of India. Sonia's Italian origin was a prominent electoral issue for the BJP and they had launched many an attacks against her. But apparently, a vast majority of Indians don't consider her an outsider. It is an ages old tradition : 'she married into our family and now she is our daughter'. Peronally, I think she would be shrewd to recuse herself from the post of the PM and remain the party leader. Not only would that deprive the BJP of a major issue, her children would be able to make their own way up to wherever. But the fact is that Indians have voted for Congress knowing that she is the party leader and she does have the mandate to lead us. Ritu GCU Ain't Democracy Grand? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Rediculous loosers
David Hobby wrote: > > Julia Thompson wrote: > ... > > > The "Speling Simplifikashun Ak of 2004" was pasd by kongres and synd by > > > President-for-life Bush right after the kansilashun of the elekshunz. > > > > ... > > > In keeping with that spirit, this community is fairly relaxed about > > > spelling errors. In fact, it may be the /only/ thing we're relaxed > > > about. Try mentioning religion in a positive sense and see what I mean :-). > > > > You mean I've wasted maybe as much as 20 minutes so far this year > > consulting the dictionary? :) > > > > Julia > > I'm with you there, Julia. I do enough writing where the output > must be good that I have to keep working on my spelling. After > awhile, it's hard to stop! Actually, this is one of the only places I really worry about it. There's another mailing list on which I try to be careful, as well. I'm not sure when I'll next be writing stuff for a more formal audience. Maybe it's good to stay in practice for that? > Spellcheck makes it easier, but won still has two check four > homophones... > ---David > > Who confesses to not reading posts with bad spelling/grammar. I read them, but ones with bad spelling take me significantly longer, and if one is too long, or there are too many of them, I start getting a headache. Bad grammar doesn't bother me as badly, as long as it's reasonably consistent. I don't use spellcheckers, except ones that call the misspellings to my attention as I'm typing. I caught one yesterday that way. Dealing with a dictionary is easier than customizing a spell checker to recognize words it doesn't already have, at least for me. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
