--- And I was right!
{Insert cackle of maniacal laughter here}

Posted by: Kathy at 10:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- It's Rochambeau Time in the Blogosphere!
Michele of A Small Victory and Dean and Rosemary of Dean's World
have decided to have stage a blogospere smackdown all in the name of
charity. They're forming alliances and I am squarely in Michele's camp
on this one. I will not support Dean because a. I don't read his site
and b. The one time I did read his site and left a comment there, it
mysteriously disappeared and no explanation was given. Hmmmph. Anyhoo,
the charity they're trying to help is The Spirit of America . They are going to purchase equipment to set up seven local television stations inside
the Al-Anbar province. The Marines will help to set the TV stations up.
Why are they doing this? I'll let them explain:
US Marines seek to equip seven (7) television stations serving
local communities within Al Anbar Province, Iraq. The Province includes
the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. These stations will offer
information that is more accurate and balanced than existing
alternatives. The goal is to improve understanding between Americans
and Iraqis, build trust and reduce tensions. Current TV news in Iraq
often carries negative, highly-biased accounts of the U.S. presence.
Unanswered, its effect is to stoke resentment and encourage conflict.
The Marines seek to ensure the Iraqi people have access to better, more
balanced information. By equipping local television stations and
providing the ability to generate news and programming, the Marines
will create a viable news alternative - one owned and operated by local
Iraqi citizens. The donated equipment will be the property of the Iraqi
stations. The stations can create their own news and choose their own
programming with the agreement that they will prohibit airing of
anti-coalition messages that incite the local population. The stations
also agree to sell airtime at a fair market price so that the Marines
can communicate their information efficiently and quickly when needed.
For example, images were recently broadcast of a mosque in Fallujah
damaged during fighting. With these stations the Marines could have
provided the full picture by airing video of combatants firing on them
from the mosque grounds. These stations would have enabled Iraqis to
understand the complete picture. News of reconstruction projects and
humanitarian assistance that balances the news of conflict will also be
provided on these stations. The stations will be free to criticize the
Coalition.
This is our chance to help out with the Al-Jazeera problem. Spirit of
America is generously setting up a tallying system for Paypal, but it
won't be available until Monday. I'll let you know when it gets set up
so, if you feel so inclined, you can give some moolah.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- er, that would be shamelessly rather than shamlessly.

{insert Guy Smiley head bash here}

Posted by: Kathy at 10:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Shamlessly pilfered from A Small Victory, we have "How Jedi Are You?"

Pretty damn Jedi, if I don't say so myself.


:: how jedi are you? ::

Posted by: Kathy at 10:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- More UN Oil For Food Scandale (hat tip: Instapundit}

Most prominent among those accused in the scandal is Benon Sevan,
the Cyprus-born U.N. undersecretary general who ran the program for six
years. In an interview with ABCNEWS last year, Sevan denied any
wrongdoing.

Wait for it.

But documents have surfaced in Baghdad, in the files of the former
Iraqi Oil Ministry, allegedly linking Sevan to a pay-off scheme in
which some 270 prominent foreign officials received the right to trade
in Iraqi oil at cut-rate prices. "It's almost like having coupons of
bonds or shares. You can sell those coupons to other people who are
normal oil traders," said Claude Hankes-Drielsma, a British adviser to
the Iraq Governing Council. Investigators say the smoking gun is a
letter to former Iraqi oil minister Amer Mohammed Rasheed, obtained by
ABCNEWS and not yet in the hands of the United Nations. In the letter,
dated Aug, 10, 1998, an Iraqi oil executive mentions a request by a
Panama-based company, African Middle East Petroleum Co., to buy Iraqi
oil — along with a suggestion that Sevan had a role in the deal. "Mr.
Muwafaq Ayoub of the Iraqi mission in New York informed us by telephone
that the abovementioned company is the company that Mr. Sevan cited to
you during his last trip to Baghdad," the executive wrote in Arabic. A
handwritten note indicated that permission for the oil purchase was
granted by "the Vice President of the Republic" on Aug. 15, 1998. The
second page of the letter contains a table entitled "Quantity of Oil
Allocated and Given to Mr. Benon Sevan." The table lists a total of 7.3
million barrels of oil as the "quantity executed" — an amount that,
if true, would have generated an illegal profit of as much as $3.5
million. "Somebody who is running the Oil-for-Food program for the
United Nations should not be receiving any benefit of any kind from a
rogue dictator who was perpetuating terror in his country," said
Hankes-Drielsma.
Again, I would like for someone to give me one good reason why the UN
is the organization best qualified to take over in Iraq.
I had this professor in college, who, while a serious liberal, always
told us in our International Organizations class to not put all of our
eggs in the UN's basket. He said he'd never seen a more corrupt place,
and one of his many examples was that of consultants being paid $60K
for a day's work. I took him at his word on this one, even though this
was in the years directly after GWI and all anyone could say was that
the UN had worked to bring people together to take care of a problem.
That the UN, while it had its flaws and wouldn't allow the coalition to
go after Saddam, was still a good organization---on the whole. The idea
was sound but there was room for improvement in the practicalities.
This was pre-Rwanda, of course, so there was still hope that the place
could be cleaned up.
But I never thought I'd see corruption on this level. It's naive of me,
perhaps, but this is beyond the pale. Millions of dollars worth of a
dictator's oil flowing directly into the pockets of the person who was
supposed to make sure that dictator's people were getting fed? Beyond.
The. Pale. I'm assuming now that ABC's got the story, it will get some
legs. Hopefully. It's been rumbling around the blogosphere for months
now, but for the most part has gone unreported by big media. Is there
going to be a scandal? I hope so. And I hope it's going to be BIG. This
crap has got to stop. There are going to be some hard questions that
the US government and others are going to want answered, and none of
them bode well for the current incarnation of the United Nations. a. Is
there room for improvement? Say if a hard ass Secretary-General was
appointed and cleaned house, would it be better or is that a pipe
dream?
b. Should we just scrap it? One could make the argument that the UN has
turned into another League of Nations and we all know how succesful
that organization was. When Libya is elected chair of the Human Rights
committee---well, what exactly does that say about the UN? c. The
British historian Paul Johnson commented in his Forbes
column back in February that the UN should bug out of New York. (Forbes
wants to charge me for the article...if the husband--a
subscriber---comes up with it, I'll post it.) The gist of his argument
was that the UN needs to get out of New York and should be closer to
perhaps Africa or some of its other needier countries to help keep the
focus on what the organization was founded to do in the first place. He
said that the current location in New York was encouraging the worst
behavior in the diplomats because of its general cushiness. Is this an
option? Where would the UN go? Would the US and NYC object? (I don't
think the meter maids would mind, though.) But most of all, would it
change the diplomats' behavior? Would such a move force them to keep
their eye on the ball, or would it just be switching ballparks?

Posted by: Kathy at 10:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Jeff Rules!

God love the man who gleefully takes up a challenge!

Posted by: Kathy at 10:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Einstein, it seems, is
being transferred from his itty bitty theoretical cubicle to a nice
office in the practical and applied section of the geek department at
Stanford.

Gravity Probe B is the relativity gyroscope experiment being
developed by NASA and Stanford University to test two extraordinary,
unverified predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of
relativity.
The experiment will check, very precisely, tiny changes in the
direction of spin of four gyroscopes contained in an Earth satellite
orbiting at 400-mile altitude directly over the poles. So free are the
gyroscopes from disturbance that they will provide an almost perfect
space-time reference system. They will measure how space and time are
warped by the presence of the Earth, and, more profoundly, how the
Earth's rotation drags space-time around with it. These effects, though
small for the Earth, have far-reaching implications for the nature of
matter and the structure of the Universe.
The only way theoretical physics has ever interested me is if the math
is correct, most people will take these physicists work for the
truth---even though there is no practical way of proving their
theories. Seems Einstein's finally getting his lab time. I wonder what
will happen if the experiment doesn't prove the hypothesis, though.
Does that mean Hawking and all the rest are wrong? Hmmph.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- The epidemiology of a hoax.

Thanks to Insults Unpunished who got it from Spoons who got it from The Single Southern Guy who it seems was curious after reading the story Instapundit linked from Protein Wisdom who got it from Tim Worstall
and he did some checking on Operation Take One For The Country, and it
seems I need to print a correction. Christ! Do you need a cocktail like
I need a cocktail after listing all that out? Anyhoo, The Single
Southern Guy did the checking and there is no such organization. It be
a hoax. I, of course, didn't get this story from any of these people,
so not only am I out of the loop (really? shocker!) it seems as if I'm
also off the hook for being fooled, as well. Because, you know, I only
posted it because I thought it was really whacked and that my audience
would enjoy it. Truth forsooth! Not here, bub. Not on junk like this. I
told you the husband sent me some wierd stuff. Did you believe me?
Nooooooo. Well, now you know to take anything I claim he sent me with a
grain of salt, ok?

Posted by: Kathy at 08:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Wedding dress for sale on Ebay.

It's REAL cheap.

Posted by: Kathy at 08:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- So, Spain's bugging out earlier than planned.

Bono said Spain was not running from a fight. "The Spanish armies
never run, but they always obey their government," Bono said.

Spanish armies never run? Oh, please. Save your rhetoric for those who haven't finished grade school.

Is the Armada ringing a bell?

Question is: why does the Spanish Defense Minister feel the need to emphasize that the army always obeys its government?

Are there mutinous rumblings in the ranks about the withdrawal?

Posted by: Kathy at 07:58 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Ranting and lots of nasty namecalling ahead. Forewarned is
forearmed.
Man.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in Geneva, Switzerland, to mark
the 10th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, said ethnic cleansing may
be under way in part of Sudan.
If international aid workers are not allowed into the region,
"appropriate action" must be taken swiftly, he said, according to a
transcript of his speech provided by the United Nations. He added that
such a move could include international military intervention -- but
only as a last resort.
Oh, how convenient the Rwanda anniversary must be for you Kofi, you
corrupt, bureaucratic son of a bitch. It gives you the perfect excuse
to chat about genocide in Sudan, doesn't it? Particularly from the
diplomatic safe haven of Geneva, where all the little diplomats live in
oblivion of what is actually happening in the rest of the world and
what actually needs to be done about it. Geneva's where they draw up
"plans." Geneva's where they fundraise. Geneva's where they speak out
about human rights abuses, and then walk down the street to the bank
and deposit their kickbacks into a numbered account. What is today,
Kofi? The Offically Designated-UN-Chat-About-Africa Day? While the
other three hundred and sixty four days of the year, you look for the
best way to line your pockets with ill-gotten gains? It must be,
because you choose to use the anniversary of a genocide, trampling on
the backs of a half million butchered Rwandans, so you can push for
your diplomacy, your aid workers, the potential
of military intervention---as a last resort, of course. You're cruel,
you know that, don't you, Kofi? To dangle that all of that everlasting
UN mandated hope in front of those poor people when you probably won't
do a damn thing. You're all talk. You never have had the balls to walk
the walk in your life. When millions are slaughtered in Sudan, you'll
use the same excuse that you used after Rwanda: I'm sorry. That's what
you and that lame-o Clinton had the guts to tell those poor people
after they lost everything. I'm sorry.
We couldn't bring anyone else on board. Ten Belgium peacekeepers died,
so we pulled our troops. So sorry. Can't have any western military
deaths. Just can't have them. We can't let our blood be spilled because
it's so much more valuable than yours. That's the ultimate message of
Rwanda: if you were white you were allowed to leave and live; if you
were black and a Tutsi, you died; if you were black and Hutu, you were
allowed to slaughter the masses without any consequences. Whose blood
is more valuable? Well, let me tell you this, Kofi: all people bleed.
And all blood looks the same when it is spilled. Where's the UN
Resolution declaring that simple fact? Somewhere in between the ones
condemning Libya for the bombing of Pan Am 103 and the twelve
resolutions calling for the disarmament of Iraq that you failed to
enforce? Don't you DARE get up on your safe, fat, high horse in Geneva
and tell the world that something needs to be done about Sudan without
first getting off your fat ass and doing something yourself. But you
won't, will you? You're a diplomat. You're a lover, not a fighter.
You will hold a bunch of meetings while the world explodes for the
people in Sudan, like it's been exploding there for the past twenty
years because you can't pull your thumb out of your ass for a long
enough period of time to get member countries on board. When you'll
call member countries, they'll turn you down and you'll say thank you for your time and what contributions you have made.
And then you'll let it go. Because all you can do is talk. You can't do
a damn thing to pull that unweildy organization you purport to run in
line because you have no balls. You're no different than a parent who
has a pack of spoiled brats and lets them run around like wild animals
because you think "it's cute." Well, it's not cute. Your words are
empty, Kofi. Bashir is laughing at you. The UN can't do a damn thing to
stop him and rest assured he knows it. He'll keep on with the
offensives. He won't let in your aid workers. You, on the other hand,
are cruel. You dangle the potential of hope in front of those afflicted
and you'll actually offer none. You won't do it. And you'll wring your
hands in the meantime and make a good show of it. You'll talk to Frontline
when it's all said and done, saying you really wish you could have done
more but no one was ponying up. After all, the UN has no peacekeepers
of its own; they rely solely upon member states to provide them and if
the member states don't provide them, well, what can I do? And then
you'll walk down to Random House's offices to pick up your royalty
check from the sales of your memoirs. How dare you be so damn callous?
You know you can't do a damn
thing to stop what's going on in Sudan. You can't. Everyone knows it.
And everyone wishes it were different. The question remains, though, do you wish you could do differently, Kofi?
That's the real question here, isn't it? Is Total-Fina-Elf giving you a
kickback here, and a kickback there so you'll stay the hell out of it?
Because that's the corporation that has the biggest, most comprehensive
oil rights in Sudan---and in Darfur---right now. It wouldn't be in
their best interests for you and the UN to go intervening, would it?
Let's face it, Kofi, after Iraq, your motives are suspect. Don't you
dare use the victims of Rwanda for your Sudanese PR campaign. And don't
you dare offer hope to those in Sudan if you're not actually going to
bother doing something about it. You are, indeed, the worst
Secretary-General of the UN ever.
I may have said last week that perhaps the international community has
the right idea to stay out of these sorts of events, but that doesn't
mean I'm giving you a pass, Kofi. If you're going to do something---do
it. Don't sit on your hands and play "pass the blame." No one needs it.
Here's your opportunity to show the world that the UN can do some good.
That the idealism behind it isn't, in fact, dead. Or are you going to
play the whole "what is the legal definition of genocide" game again
because you weren't strong enough to force people to act? Because your
current actions sure as hell aren't going to cut it. "At the invitation of the Sudanese government, I propose to send
a high-level team to Darfur to gain a fuller understanding of the
extent and nature of this crisis, and to seek improved access to those
in need of assistance and protection," he said. "It is vital that
international humanitarian workers and human rights experts be given
full access to the region, and to the victims, without further delay.
"If that is denied, the international community must be prepared to
take swift and appropriate action."
What, exactly, is 'swift and appropriate action' to you, dear Kofi? A
rich dinner in Geneva where you'll lament the happenings in Sudan over
cognac and a cigar?

Posted by: Kathy at 06:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Jeez. Apparently it's not a good thing to be the leader of Hamas.

Hah.

Posted by: Kathy at 06:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm done cleaning the apartment. It's sparkly, but I'm not. I'm either
really tired or am high on a. clorox clean up, b. scott's liquid gold
(that should be a brand name for tequila, not furniture polish) or c.
orange scented 409 glass and surface cleaner. It's a toss up, but the
end result is that I'm not myself right now and I'm not going to
subject you all to me being even more wierd than normal. No one needs
that, so there won't be any updates this evening.. Think of my absence
as a public service. Have a lovely night. I'm going to go and crash in
front of the TV. Ciao.

Posted by: Kathy at 05:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Cold. Oh, so cold.

Posted by: Kathy at 05:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Finally. The UN hires someone who can kick some ass.

Posted by: Kathy at 05:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Here's the reason I missed my stalking opportunity.

Bush's motorcade left the airport around 9:07. He took the podium around 9:30.

They said the speech was supposed to start at 10:15 and was going to last until 11:15.

"Is your watch slow."
"No. We had three minutes."
"Why'd he do that? He's losing his money."
"Couldn't hold his wad? It's a common problem among middle-aged men---or so I'm told."
Dude wasn't supposed to start yakking until 10:15. I didn't get up
until 9:55. (Yes, last night was a late one. Again. Good book.) So, due
to the fact we have a President who is so punctual he's actually warped
the space-time continuum, by the time I finally clambered out of bed,
he was more than halfway through his speech. I hustled. Chatted with
husband about best place to go and find him. I threw on some jeans and
a fleece, grabbed my camera and fled. But there was a problem. Nellie
was low on gas. Sheesh. This means trip to ATM---but ATM has no cash.
Someone apparently used it to perform a overnight hostile takeover on
the Nikkei, hence no money in it first thing Monday morning. Sighing at
how the world seems to be conspiring against me, I cringe when the ATM
at the gas station busts me for $1.50 in fees, which will undoubtedly
be added to the $2.00 my bank will charge me for not using one of their
ATM's. So, I'm already down money on this venture, but I'm still going
to stalk the Prez. Things will undoubtedly get better.
Maybe. The guy who was hosting the party was listed in the Cake Eater
Community Phonebook and so I had his address. I'd pulled it up on
Mapquest, taken a good look at all the entrances and exits to their
streets, and while there were plenty of options to get to this
particular curvy suburban hell, the fastest would be to get off on 70th
Street from Hwy. 100. I was sure to see the motorcade there, right? One
in, one out? Right? Fastest way. Less chance of a moonbat encounter,
right? The husband concurred and he's always right about these things.
Wrongo reindeer.
I got on Hwy. 100 South, was chugging along nicely, and when I
approached Hwy 62---aka "The Crosstown"---there were state troopers
everywhere. They were completely blocking the westbound entrance and
just as I crossed the overpass, what to my wondering eyes should
appear? A frigging black limo, speeding west on the crosstown. I do
believe this was the lead vehicle in the motorcade. I couldn't see the
rest because a. 100 moves at a decent clip, state troopers or no state
troopers and b. I would have hit the car that was entering before me
from the eastbound side of the the crosstown if I'd slowed or pulled
over. Disaster averted.
So, the Prez is going west and will turn south. I'm heading south and
plan to turn west. We're bound to meet somewhere in the middle. Working
under this assumption, I continue along with my plan, and hope I'll
hook up with him on the other side. Nope. I wandered around curvy
suburban hell for about ten minutes, by which time, the Prez was
undoubtedly at his luncheon, and there was no chance of me getting a
glimpse of the man. I suppose I could have gone and staked out a
position for his inevitable trip back to the airport on the
crosstown---quickest way from this neck of the woods---but by that time
I decided I'd much rather go home, take a shower and put on some
underwear. Yep. You read that right. I wasn't wearing any underwear. I
completely forgot all about it when I was dressing. Amazing how I
remembered the ATM card, the camera, and the coffee the husband
lovingly put in my hand as I flew out the door, but completely
neglected to put on underwear. What the hell is wrong with me? Of
course this is the reason
I didn't see him. My underwear-less mojo was bad. The Fates said, "no,
my dear girl, you are not going to get to see the President today
because you're skivvy-less. This will teach you in the future to
remember such things."
I mean, how the hell can you argue with the Fates? Don't they have the
power to smite me or throw lightning bolts at me or have some natural
disaster strike me? I dunno, but you can see where they wouldn't have
wanted me to be anywhere near the Prez. I'm a freaking security risk.
Let me outline the scenario for you:
Underwearless Kathy---bad mojo---Fates intervene---to save GDub from my
punishment for not wearing skivvies. Quite simple, really and I can't
blame them one bit.

Posted by: Kathy at 05:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Here's yet another example of why JPII isn't in control of the Vatican.

In a news conference to announce the release of a document aimed at
a crackdown on possible abuses in celebrating Mass, Cardinal Francis
Arinze was asked if a politician who supports abortion rights should be
denied communion.
"Yes. Objectively, the answer is clear," Arinze said. "The person is
not fit. If he shouldn't receive it, then it shouldn't be given."
Ok, now if you're not a Vatican watcher, this probably doesn't make any
sense to you. Let me attempt to explain. A little over a year ago, my
dad sent me an article that chatted about Cardinal Ratzinger's latest
instruction, which was that he wanted bishops worldwide to instruct
their Catholic parishoner-politicians that if they declared themselves
to be pro-choice, they were no longer Catholic by the definition of the
Church. The main example touted was the bishop of Sioux Falls SD---he
was supposed to get on Tom Daschle to stop saying he was Catholic. Ok,
so this apparently didn't go anywhere, but the culprit was out in the
open: Cardinal Ratzinger, who could kindly be described as
"reactionary" in terms of what he believes is correct and proper
behavior for a Catholic. This idea apparently went over like a lead
balloon in 2003, but it's an election year in the US. With a Catholic
contending for Big Cushy Seat #1. The idea morphed into sacrament
denial, and here we are---Brouhaha Central. Now, good ol Cardinal
Ratzinger is the dude in charge of The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which, charmingly, used to be called The Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition. (He was also in the Hitler Youth when he was a kid, too.) I have a feeling Cardinal Ratzinger would prefer that the old name be reinstated. The Inquisition
just sounds like a better motivator to get Catholics to do what you
want them to. In my opinon, Ratzinger's a blowhard, but more
importantly he's an opportunist. And he's taking advantage of JPII's
Parkinson's to get his own agenda out there. JPII, in my humble
opinion, is a caretaker Pope. God bless the man, but he hasn't really
done diddly squat in terms of pushing the Church forward. One could
easily argue that he didn't feel the need to push the Church forward,
since he was from Poland and we all know how conservative Polish
Catholics are (heh!). I don't think so because he hasn't been afraid to
tackle some issues, like the death penalty for instance, or the evils
of communism. It's just that I think he realized from the very
beginning that he was in a touchy situation because JPI had died so
quickly. Any overt moves to the right, and all those assasination
theories would gain some momentum. But the Vatican does not move in
normal time. They've been around for 2000 years---they'll be around
another 2000. They can outlast their critics. I also think that the
attempted assassination took a lot out of him, to a certain extent, and
the pedophile scandal finished him. He liked things just the way they
were. Think about it. There haven't been any big changes in doctrine
since 1979. He's tweaked a few things, but that's about it. So the
question would be, why all of the new teachings? As you might have been
able to tell from website the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has been busy publishing all
sorts of teachings, where there hadn't been too many before Ratzinger
took over. Why all of the instruction regarding how we Catholics are
supposed to feel about gays and lesbians, not to mention this bit about
pro-choice politicians? The idea may have been voiced by Cardinal
Arinze, but it's definitely Ratzinger's idea.
I would also really enjoy knowing why, if JPII is actually in charge of
the show, wasn't there a bit in this latest teaching about refusing
pro-death penalty politicans the sacraments? JPII does not like the
death penalty. He didn't want to visit Missouri in the late 90's
because the state was about to execute someone. Now, my father would
tell you that all of JPII's statements about the death penalty were
made "ex cathedra"---which means infalliabilty isn't attached.
According to Daddy, this also means these statements don't mean jack in
the scheme of things: no essential Church teachings have been changed
because the Pope spoke out against it. My reply was that if JPII made
these statements in front of a CNN camera, he was
teaching. Why all of the protestations over the death penalty if he was
actually for it in practice? It doesn't make sense, unless you take
into account that Ratzinger is in favor of the death penalty. And he
is. I'm not going to say that Ratzinger is the puppet master, but it
seems as if he's working a hand up JPII's vestments. JPII isn't in
charge. He's just too ill to rule effectively and Ratzinger, et.al. are
taking advantage of the situation. Which, you have to admit, is not
really flattering behavior in a priest. I don't care if he's a member
of the Curia. I don't care if he's il papabili.
I don't care if he's a Cardinal. When it comes right down to it he's a
priest---no more, no less. It seems wrong of him to take advantage of
the situation.

Posted by: Kathy at 05:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Two years ago, for my birthday, the husband bought me this nifty little TV
for the kitchen. We have it hooked up to the DirecTV receiver in the
living room, so whatever we're watching on the main TV, we also watch
in the kitchen. It's not only great to be able to watch CNN whilst
cooking supper, but it's pretty damn sweet that I don't have to pay for
a third receiver as well because the husband wired it creatively (we'll
conveniently skip over the fact he stuck his foot through the ceiling
when he was wiring it). So, after dinner the other night, I was mildly
absorbed in trying to get an overload of pots and pans to fit into the
dishwasher and the TV was on, of course. Anderson Cooper had gone to
commercials. I wasn't really
paying attention, but then something made my head pop up: a male
announcer with a cheesy game show host voice uttered the words: "...Headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia..."
WTF? Who the hell in Saudi Arabia would be silly enough to advertise on
CNN? I wondered. Are the Saudis doing another one of their famous PR
campaigns? I watched and then picked up a pen and wrote down Kingdom Holding Company
when the name of the company flashed up on the screen and went back to
cleaning up, but my interest had been piqued.
Later on, I went and googled "Kingdom Holding Company," and was fairly
surprised to find there wasn't a website for it. This was really odd to
me. Everyone
and their brother has a website. It seems de rigeur to list your
website in any sort of advertising these days. Hmmph. So, with my
failure in mind, I set the husband on the project---he's a much better
surfer than I am. He finds all sorts of junk. This is what he came up
with, and I quote: Top story in basic search

"The objective of the Arab Decision site is
to make available to citizens and general public useful information on
the Institutions of the Arab World.The documentation was gathered with
the best efforts of researchers and scholars, in neutral and scientific
spirit. We welcome all clarifications, corrections and improvements for
best services." The WHOIS results for www.kingdom.net - reported as the
website (under construction) by ArabDecision.org. This was interesting,
I had to go to a deeper Whois search than the one provided by the main
companies like whois.com (you don't want to know), {because} they
turned up no results. Domain name: KINGDOM.NET Administrative Contact:
Amjad, Shaheen ams@kingdom.net Takhassusi Street Riyadh, 11321 SA
9661-442-0101 Fax: 9661-4811954 Technical Contact: Jisri, Mahmoud
noc@naseej.com.sa Sitteen St. P.O Box 20129 304 Riyadh, Riyadh 11455 SA
966114770477 Fax: 966114783512 Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC. Record
last updated on 29-Sep-2003. Record expires on 01-Oct-2004. Record
created on 02-Oct-1995. Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.AWALNET.NET.SA NS2.AWALNET.NET.SA twocows, Inc. Now THAT's
strange... More available about the owner than the company... The "Owner"

Kingdom Centre

Working with Mr. Gates

News links on His Royal Highness

From the Arab Banker's Association of North America

His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud. We all remember this guy, right?

Now he's advertising on CNN. Attempting to garner US interest in his company.
Why? Because the Saudi infrastructure sucks and he wants us to help him
fix it via investment in his company. Pardon me, dear Prince, but don't
you have plenty of your own money to blow on fixing your backasswards
country? Forbes just listed you at being worth $21 billion---and that's
with a big Carl Sagan 'B.' If you're so big on looking at the root
causes of problem, particularly in relation to 9/11, then perhaps
you'll realize that it would be a bad
idea for any US investor to come in and spend moolah in Saudi right
now. After all, what's in it for us? A Democratic Saudi Arabia? Please.
But I will wish you a fond Inshallah in your efforts---with all of the underlying meanings that one word entails.

Posted by: Kathy at 04:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Politicians on reality tv?
In the epicenter of all contrariness---France---yes, this does appear
to be the case. Just a random thought: she's being castigated for
"making a mockery of politics" by appearing on this show, yet isn't the
French political scene already a joke? How can you make a mockery of
something that's already a mockery in itself?
Just wondering.

Posted by: Kathy at 04:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Instead of having a Silly German story today, we have a SILLY THINGS THAT COULD ONLY HAPPEN IN GERMANY story.

"I didn't know how I would be able to tell my parents about a holiday with him and I couldn't really say to him 'Listen, my
parents wouldn't approve'," the woman, 28, identified only as Marina B., told the Duesseldorf state court Wednesday.

"Then I had the idea that if the trip could somehow be blocked by someone else, for example a bomb threat, then that
would solve all the problems," she added. Her flight departed anyway, several hours late.

This is like saying you have Ebola when you don't want to go to work and call in sick.

Get a spine.

--- This is just so wrong on so many levels.

Shall we define what is wrong? Yes, lets.

1. ``Mr. Neil personally appeared out of respect for this court and this county. Now he's moving on.''
Vince "I'm a Bad, Bad Boy, So Spank Me" Neil has respect for a court
and a county? WTF? A man who has so little respect for women that he has to pay them to sleep with him hence no woman in her right mind will go to bed with him without pay, has respect for a court and a county? Again, WTF.

2. BunnyRanch
owner Dennis Hof said he was sorry to hear that Neil felt pressured to
enter a plea.``It's sad to see Vince do that because in my mind this
girl's an opportunist and I know that Vince did nothing wrong,'' Hof
told
the Nevada Appeal newspaper. ``I assume he did this to avoid having a
lengthy trial. I will support him to the end, because I know he didn't
do anything wrong.''
Ok, so let's see if we can delineate Mr. Hof and his position on the
matter:
a. He owns a brothel. He's a pimp. Yes, prostitution is legal in
Nevada, but the fact he peddles flesh for a living does not
automatically lump him in with other business owners in my book. He
runs a brothel, not a Pro Shop. He thinks because it's legal there's
nothing wrong with providing a place for men and women to pay for sex.
His word equals precisely squat.
b. Vince is probably a good client and hence he's sticking with the
person who spends the money, rather than the person who earns it.
c. He automatically assumes that the woman is trying to shake Vince
Neil down. I don't know, but the fact she filed a criminal complaint
for getting beaten up doesn't necessarily correlate with "shake down"
in my book. Besides, what money does Vince have? Didn't it disappear
somewhere in the vicinity of his sinus cavities in the late eighties?
d. There apparently doesn't seem to be anything wrong in Hof's book
with choking a woman and throwing her against the wall. It's all good fun apparently.

3. Judge
Bill Rogers suspended a 30-day jail sentence and ordered Neil to
complete anger management correspondence courses within 60 days. He was
fined $1,000 plus court fees of $132, and returned to his Las Vegas
home afterward
a. ANGER MANAGEMENT CORRESPONDENCE COURSES
???? I don't know about you, but if Vince can get in a car to go and
visit a brothel, he should---at the very least---have to drive to
Carson City to actually attend anger managment classes. Every
week. For the next year. b. Vince lives in Las Vegas. Need I say more?
I'm trying to keep myself from going off into a rant about the evils of
prostitution. But...I...CAN'T...SEEM...TO...HELP...MYSELF.
Aiiieee. The moment of regret seems to have passed and here we
go---WARP SPEED, MR. SULU!
I hate prostitution. I suppose this throws me into the "unenlightened"
sect. Fine with me. If it's unenlightened for me to care about women
and men thinking their genital region is the most worthwhile part of
their bodies, so be it. Because that's what it comes down to in the sex
trade: your penis, your vagina, your rectum, your breasts, your
mouth---your body---will ultimately earn you more money than your
brain, so use them. That's the lure. That's the essence of the pimp's
arguments. You'll get paid for something you'd do anyway, so why not?
Never mind that it's exploitative in the extreme. Never mind the human
trafficking that goes on to supply fresh new prostitutes to the street
for the paying customers. Never mind that most of the people that are
trafficked into prostitution are tricked into doing it. Never mind that
drugs always seem to be connected to prostitution, for many different
reasons. Never mind that people should value themselves more. Never
mind that it degrades the act of sex into groin-satisfaction-only
action. It's consensual. Lighten up. What does it matter to you what
happens behind closed doors?
It matters a lot to me. So much so that I throw away my libertarian
stance on this one issue. It is
my business when people suffer to make some random individual whose got
the coin to feel happy in the pants. It's everyone's business.
Apparently, though, I'm sure a few people will disagree with my stance
on this one. The essence of their arguments will relate around how it's
consensual; how it's been going on since the beginning of time; that by
legalizing prostitution, you're taking out the exploitation factor,
etc. You've all heard the arguments so I needn't waste my time listing
them out.
The essence of my argument is that prostitution is degrading to the
human race. It is. Just look at it. A person pays for sex. Perhaps they
will do this with the full understanding that they're simply going to
get their rocks off. But most of the time, they don't. Let's face facts
here, kids. Most people who pay for sex are simply not getting what
they want from their regular partners, if they have a regular partner
to begin with. It's a walk on the wild side
for them. For the average suburban man, it's one step up from visiting
a titty bar. It's paying to get what a lover isn't willing to give. It's a transaction.
Yet, it seems to me, that most people who visit prostitutes take it one
step further. They want to indulge in their fantasies; they want to
gain satisfaction from something that they perhaps think is too dirty
to suggest to their regular partners; they're perhaps ashamed to admit
they want something different. They bring more than their rocks into the situation,
in other words. Now, most therapists would say that this theoretical
person is repressing something. Perhaps homosexual tendencies. Perhaps
violent tendencies. You get what I'm saying. But the sex trade doesn't
care about about the mental health of their clients. They don't care
about what their clients might do to their employees---if you can call
them that---it's all about the money. They take advantage of the
taboos; taboos are their bread and butter. They don't want their
clientele to think with their brains; they want them to think with
their groins because once rational though stops and groin-thinking
takes over, they've won. They take advantage of the shame attached with
sex by offering a perfectly "legitimate" outlet for it, and by doing
so, their patrons are never forced to examine why they feel the way
they do in the first place. People who frequent customers are never
forced to be honest with themselves.
Which in turns sets us all back. Which is ironic, don't you think,
given all the arguments for the legalization of prostitution? Sex is
about so much more than getting your rocks off. Yes, there is no
escaping that sex is a physical need, but it's rooted in
reproduction---the pleasure was designed as a side benefit to keep the
human race going. You may have plenty of erogenous zones on your body,
but if you haven't figured it out by now, your mind is your most
important sexual organ. It is. Your mind heightens the experience into
something lovely, when if you take only your body into account, sex
between human beings is no more than two apes going at it in the
jungle. And we've all seen enough Discovery Channel to note that that
is not
what happens with human beings. Apes don't kiss for starters. And they
don't cuddle afterwards either. (Although, Polar Bears do---saw that at
the Omaha Zoo one day. Interesting.)
When you ignore the mind, or say that its irrelevant, you're degrading
the act of sex. Prostitution demands that people not think about the
mind when it comes to sex, or perhaps a better way of saying it is that
prostitution exploits the mind for its own ends---and that degrades us
as a species. ---Ok, and on that somber and depressing note, I will bid
you a'dieu. Have a Happy Easter and enjoy some ham on Sunday.

Posted by: Kathy at 04:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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