A fancy, mainstream media follow-up on this post can be found here.

Go read the whole thing.

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Finally someone pegs Greenspan correctly.

One of the knocks I’ve heard on Bernanke is that he is, ironically, too plainspoken—that is, too easily understood. Much of Greenspan’s success can be attributed to his foggy, quasi-Zen-like pronouncements which, to me at least, often recalled Peter Sellers’ Chauncey Gardiner in Being There. There was a soothing potentially deep confusion to them—as if Yoda had taken a dose of LSD and suddenly whipped out an abacus.

Oh, Alan, we will miss thee.

You can go read the rest if you want. Me? I've just been visited by Mr. Chesterfield: I'm satisfied.

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Now govern.

I hate to say it because, undoubtedly, someone will take it the wrong way, but I honestly think this is a great outcome for the future of Israel and the Palestinian People. This could be the move that will bring peace to the region. I don't say this because I believe Hamas is going to be a great political force for good, but rather because I know they will fail the Palestinian people. They have no experience governing. They don't know what it takes and they'll undoubtedly fail, just like their terrorist predecessor, Yassir Arafat, failed. Convincing poor, downtrodden young men who have no future before them (mainly because of Hamas' actions) to blow themselves up is nothing compared to actually having to govern.

The question is how will the Palestinian People react when Hamas fails to bring them a better life? Will they revert to their Arafat-inspired codependence of conspiracy theories galore or will they, for once, open their eyes and see that Hamas and every other terrorist organization, not to mention every Arab nation state, uses the Palestinians for their political purposes and that, perhaps, it's time for them to step up and stop themselves from being used? If the Palestinians take the latter option, the election of Hamas---and the turmoil it will unbdoubtedly bring for the Israelis---might actually be worth it in the long term if it convinces the Palestinians to stop giving credence to what these terrorists say and brings about an era where peace will actually stick.

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The husband, God Bless him, has many problems with the Kelo decision, one of which is that he believes there won't be much of a market for home mortgages if governments can just up and give your property to someone who will pay more taxes. Free market logic follows that while lenders will be leery of lending to individuals in a post-Kelo world, they'll still lend money to developers.

But perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to condemn the bankers...

CHARLOTTE — Regional bank BB&T will make no loans to developers who plan to build commercial projects on land taken from private citizens by the government through the power of eminent domain.

"The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided; in fact it's just plain wrong," John Allison, chairman and chief executive of the Winston-Salem-based bank, said Wednesday.

No other large U.S. bank has a similar policy, according to BB&T spokesman. The bank declined to estimate how much business they expect to lose as a result of the new policy. {...}

The ninth largest bank in the United States of America just said that their non-commercial customers were more important than property developers. That's customer service.

If I lived in that neck of the woods, you could be damned sure that I'd switch my accounts to BB&T.

{Via Martini Boy and Below the Beltway}

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Can someone please tell me why I should take all of these "Europe will go to hell in a handbasket in fifteen years because they're not reproducing at a rate that will support their welfare governments, etc." demographic projections seriously?

Perhaps I should rephrase that. I know why I should take it seriously. I don't need a lecture about battling Islamofascism in the Netherlands and the death of Theo Van Gogh and how his murderer was actually a Dutch-born muslim, and that's the best example we've got of Europe's problem, etc., thank you ever so much. I don't need that explained.

Here's what I would like explained: After a lifetime of having to listen to how we human beings were going to overpopulate the planet, using up all the natural resources, and pretty much leaving the Earth as one big cesspool of toxic slime because we couldn't stop ourselves from making babies, I now have to listen to the absolute reverse. Why on Earth am I supposed to believe these new population numbers that foretell the doom of a white, Christian Europe, when the worldwide overpopulation that was widely predicted and hyped to be our doom never happened?

You can understand why I'm skeptical, right? Who am I supposed to believe?

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The Jawa Report: Helping Jail Terrorist Wannabes Since 2004

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On this day twenty-five years ago, after four hundred and fourty-four days of captivity, the U.S. embassy employees who had been taken hostage by Iranian students who had stormed the embassy were released.

Today, Iran started moving its assets out of European banks to shield them from possible UN sanctions for ignoring the world's will about their nuclear ambitions.

Did I mention that one of the main demands of the Iranian hostage takers in 1979 was the release of Iran's assets held in the U.S., which had been frozen when the Shah was deposed?

{Insert Twilight Zone Theme Music Here}

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Scary.

{...}We don't mind offering you a long-term truce on fair conditions that we adhere to. We are a nation that God has forbidden to lie and cheat. So both sides can enjoy security and stability under this truce so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan, which have been destroyed in this war. There is no shame in this solution, which prevents the wasting of billions of dollars that have gone to those with influence and merchants of war in America who have supported Bush's election campaign with billions of dollars — which lets us understand the insistence by Bush and his gang to carry on with war.

If you (Americans) are sincere in your desire for peace and security, we have answered you. And if Bush decides to carry on with his lies and oppression, then it would be useful for you to read the book "Rogue State," which states in its introduction: "If I were president, I would stop the attacks on the United States: First I would give an apology to all the widows and orphans and those who were tortured. Then I would announce that American interference in the nations of the world has ended once and for all."

Finally, I say that war will go either in our favor or yours. If it is the former, it means your loss and your shame forever, and it is headed in this course. If it is the latter, read history! We are people who do not stand for injustice and we will seek revenge all our lives. The nights and days will not pass without us taking vengeance like on Sept. 11, God permitting. Your minds will be troubled and your lives embittered. As for us, we have nothing to lose. A swimmer in the ocean does not fear the rain. You have occupied our lands, offended our honor and dignity and let out our blood and stolen our money and destroyed our houses and played with our security and we will give you the same treatment.

You have tried to prevent us from leading a dignified life, but you will not be able to prevent us from a dignified death. Failing to carry out jihad, which is called for in our religion, is a sin. The best death to us is under the shadows of swords. Don't let your strength and modern arms fool you. They win a few battles but lose the war. Patience and steadfastness are much better. We were patient in fighting the Soviet Union with simple weapons for 10 years and we bled their economy and now they are nothing.

In that there is a lesson for you.

I hate to be down on the Special Forces dudes---I really do---because they are working their asses off, but can we track down and kill this goatfucker already?

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"The message of eminent domain abuse is simple: "You aren't rich enough to deserve the land you own.""

Go read the whole thing.

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1 Those unbelievable bastards! Fuckers! Every last one of them! I'm all for capitalism, but this shit is corruption of the worst sort. It is nothing less than a signal of the decline of the United States of America and the principals upon which it was founded. Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. What these fuckers consider "just" is only determined by lawyers. Lawyers, by the way, like the bottom-feeders they are, who are inclined to use whatever definition best serves the host the parasites are currently feeding on. Do you think that so far these passages from the Bill of Rights may or may not be applicable? Just wait, there's more! Amendment VII In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.So any of this nonsense taking place in city council meetings, smoke-filled back rooms, or elsewhere is all shit and can be contested according to the law! in front of a jury of citizens. In this case, the peers of a case would by definition be other residents of the Cramer Hill neighborhood. The revolution draws closer...

Posted by: MRN aka "The Husband" at January 19, 2006 04:20 PM (JeBdM)

2 In the immortal words of Sergeant Hulka: Lighten up, Francis.

Posted by: Kathy at January 19, 2006 05:35 PM (JeBdM)

3 Hell no! If the erosion of our very liberties isn't enough to bother you, then consider the erosion of our entire economic system. I know you've heard me rant before about how a major cornerstone of the United States' economy is property rights. (Also one reason that the World Bank and IMF can't make any headway in developing nations - the oligarchs and kleptocrats won't allow people to own their land. Just consider, the several-hundred-billion dollars in home and property loans in this country (that finance everything from home improvements to transportation, to education, to vacations) might very suddenly be considered to be built upon a house of cards. Why? Because the value of the property that those loans are taken against has just become vastly more fluid. If some shcyster city council scumbags can suddenly and arbitrarily determine either A. the property you're sitting on has no value to "you" or B. you have no rights to that property because we want to 'improve' it, then what the hell has the bank loaned you money against? How long do you think it's going to take the banks to figure this out? The Kelo decision was the "shot nobody heard" of this new revolution. (ed: can't type m_o_r_t_g_a_g_e in the comments - apparently it's dangerous content. Strange, I can get it to post fucker just fine. Your comment could not be submitted due to questionable content: m_o_r_t_g_a_g_e)

Posted by: MRN aka "The Husband" at January 19, 2006 06:11 PM (JeBdM)

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At what point in time does a building lose the memories---bad memories, in particular---associated with it?

An article from this weekend's Financial Times looks at the controvery surrounding Berlin's Olympic Stadium, which will host the World Cup final this summer. It was one of the few Nazi buildings to survive the war---and it's been in use ever since. While it's recently received a bit of a rehab, apparently none of the new features disguise the fact Adolf Hitler had the place built to host an Olympic games where he was to prove to the world the superiority of the Aryan race.

{...}Beyond the curve of the cream-coloured new roof, the derelict Nazi structures are visible: Arno Breker-style statues venerating the Nazi physical ideal, the rotting terraces and gigantic clock tower of the old Maifeld where mass rallies were held.

{...}Many buildings were demolished straight after the war. Nothing remains of such symbolic structures as HitlerÂ’s bunker or chancellery, for example. Most of the old government buildings on Wilhelmstrasse were demolished and replaced with bland apartment blocks. The epicentre of evil, the SS quarter from which the Holocaust and other crimes were organised, was bulldozed.

The Olympic site is the largest and most perfectly preserved example of Nazi monumental architecture in the city - and Berlin is still trying to adapt, incorporate and move on from the structureÂ’s history.

The stadium survived the war almost unscathed, but by 1998 this old, grey behemoth was decrepit. Berlin had to choose whether to pull it down or restore it. They chose the latter. Two years later Germany beat England to stage the 2006 World Cup - and the Olympic Stadium was awarded six games, including the final. After a four-year refit costing Euro225m, the stadium reopened last year with concerts, fireworks and popular approval.

In the arena where Hitler received the acclaim of millions in the 1930s, fans of Berlin’s football team Hertha BSC now celebrate an easy win over a visiting team from Mainz, courtesy of two goals from their Brazilian star Marcelinho. The fans clap, wave their blue flags and chant: “sieg!... sieg!... sieg!” But this is a good-natured crowd - and the word “sieg” means “victory”. It’s their way of saying “we won the game”.

“What can you do?” shrugs Andreas Nachama, former leader of Berlin’s Jewish community. “It’s the German language, and you can’t change the language. You can’t erase the history either. Part of being in the new Germany is that we live in the grounds and buildings of the remnants of the Third Reich. Yes, Berlin was the centre of Nazi evil, but there is a new spirit here, a new state, a new generation has taken over.”{...}

To get an idea of what we're talking about:

The renovation by architects Gerkan, Marg and Partners is impressive but disconcerting. Inside the arena everything is new, more comfortable and softer-looking than before. ItÂ’s still unsatisfactory for watching football because the running track distances the crowd from the pitch. But the stands have been rebuilt with better seating. The VIP areas look like the lobbies of swanky hotels. The new giant screens, sound and floodlight systems are state-of-the-art. Even the toilets gleam.

From outside, however, apart from a slight change to the roofline, everything looks much as Hitler wanted it back in 1936 when it was the biggest, most proudly fascist piece of architecture in the world. The hard, clean, lines of the building are intact. So are the colonnades, the imposing symmetry and the distinctive open end with its “Marathon Tower” and Olympic flame urn. Spectators still approach the stadium across a great empty space, through two imposing towers between which hang the Olympic rings.{...}

While I don't think that buildings that leaned heavily toward Neo-Classicism necessarily can be equated with the descriptor "proudly fascist" I nonetheless take the author's point. (If this was true, think of what he would have to say about this stadium and its subsequent redesign. "Mistake by the Lake" indeed.) The stadium is still pretty much the same. It is an imposing piece of architecture, as all Nazi buildings were. But the stadium served a bit of a different purpose than, say, the Chancellery: it not only needed to intimidate and impress visitors to the Olympic Games, the stadium needed to seduce them as well; it needed to show people that beauty was possible in the Third Reich. For the raving lunatic that the man was, Hitler was also pretty smart in that he tried to offer the Full Meal Deal Society to the German people: one free of Jews, full of blonde haired, blue-eyed Aryans, with crisply cornered, broad shouldered stone buildings that appealed to the perenially tidy German sense of self.

But Hitler is long gone, as is the political party he founded and the war he started. It shouldn't mean anything to anyone that this building is still in use; that it was rehabbed because it was cheaper than building a new stadium; that it will be home to the final game in the World Cup of 2006---which will absolutely be the sporting event with the largest television audience ever. The choice of this stadium is simply incidental to the fact Berlin is the capitol of Germany. Mortar, stone and rebar have no memory, after all.

Yet, this stadium has a lot of memories attached to it. It has many, many ghosts. Millions of ghosts. Because Berlin's Olympic Stadium wasn't built just because they needed a track; it was built to showcase the glories of the Aryan race and the benefits of membership of National Socialism to the entire world. It was built for Nazi public relations purposes. This stadium was never neutral sporting territory; it was the first battlefield of the Second World War.

Which brings us back to the original question: At what point in time does a building lose the memories---bad memories, in particular---associated with it? When does usefulness trump bad memories?

I don't know the answer, and I surely don't expect anyone else to, either, but it's interesting to ponder.

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1 How about we think of it as the stadium where Jesse Owens proved Hitler was full of shite with his Aryan Superiority BS once and for all?

Posted by: caltechgirl at January 16, 2006 04:03 AM (uI/79)

2 I like to think of the following quote by John Toland: “There are no simple lessons in history, that it is human nature that repeats itself, not history.” A building is but a building, sure, we MUST remember the past least we repeat it, but as said, the language remains the same and CalTechGirl hit the “mark” on the head.

Posted by: Edd at January 16, 2006 07:27 AM (W4pRM)

3 CTG beat me to it. As for your question, you're right, I don't have an answer. But an intersting thing to ponder.

Posted by: Ith at January 16, 2006 12:54 PM (+T0G3)

4 "Which brings us back to the original question: At what point in time does a building lose the memories---bad memories, in particular---associated with it? When does usefulness trump bad memories?" CTG beat ME to it. I was honored to attend the very high school where Archie Williams was a math teacher in the 1970's. I am honored that I had the chance to shake hands with him. THAT is the everlasting memory that I associate with the Berlin Olympics, and his and Jesse Owens' ghosts are the ones that linger there, not those of the members of the "master race" whom they put in their place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Williams

Posted by: Mark at January 17, 2006 10:11 AM (IPp2K)

5 It's a building, fer krissake- it's glass and steel and pipes and whatnot. The Clintons lived in the White House for 8 years, and somehow I still think it's a lovely house. Like the US Capitol Building- it's peopled by snake oil salesmen, liars, and money-whores, yet it's still a beatiful building.

Posted by: barry at January 22, 2006 04:43 AM (kKjaJ)

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Mayor Bloomberg made a big boo-boo.

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Well, maybe you'll only laugh if you're from Minnesota, but I find this just freakin' hysterical.

Dealing a stunning blow to Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Legislature, a Ramsey County judge Tuesday struck down a tobacco fee that promised to raise $401 million over the next two years for the state.

Ramsey County District Judge Michael Fetsch ruled that the fee of 75 cents per pack violated a settlement between the government and tobacco companies that barred the state from seeking additional money from the firms to pay for health care costs related to smoking.

The ruling could jeopardize the comfortable budget surplus that the state has been counting on and pose a major embarrassment to Pawlenty and legislative incumbents just in time for a critical election year.{...}

Now that's funny. The part that's not so funny is this:

"We are very disappointed by the court's ruling and will ask for an immediate appeal directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court," Pawlenty said in a statement. He also is considering "using existing administrative authority" to apply the fee at retail outlets.{...}

{my emphasis}

Did you get that? Pawlenty wants to keep collecting the tax while he appeals it---even though it's not really clear that he can appeal it due to the terms of the settlement---and is considering using administrative authority to apply the tax fee. It's apparently so important to the Governor to keep collecting this tax fee that he's willing to violate the state's consitution to do so.

Can you say "illegal" boys and girls? The better question is can Governor Pawlenty say it?

I agree with Doug and David---it would be much better for Pawlenty in the long run to just drop this stupid tax fee and move on. There is another way to find $400 million dollars to balance the budget: it's called reduced spending. The guv didn't even have to cut spending. He just had to reduce it---you know, spend a little less than normal and he would never have had to start up this tax health impact fee business to begin with.

Pawlenty, in an effort to not piss people off, has pretty much pissed everyone off. There's a life lesson in all of this, if you're willing to look for it.

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In Germany, apparently, when you're sentenced to life in prison for killing a US Navy diver and hijacking a TWA jet, you get out of prison after almost nineteen years.

Then you get to get on a plane and leave the country. Where you can then disappear.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A Lebanese man serving a life sentence in Germany for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner and killing of a
U.S. Navy diver has returned to Lebanon after being paroled in Germany, security and guerrilla officials said Tuesday.

Mohammed Ali Hamadi arrived in Beirut four days ago on a commercial flight from Germany, a Lebanese security official and a Hezbollah guerrilla group said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

It was not known where Hamadi, who spent 19 years in prison, went after entering Lebanon.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut refused to comment on Hamadi's release or whether the United States will pursue his arrest. The slain diver's brother called the parole "absolutely disturbing."{...}

{my emphasis}

Oh, and there's this little bit that gets the eyebrows to rising:

{...}German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said there was no connection between Hamadi's release and the recent freeing of former hostage Susanne Osthoff, a German woman released over the weekend after spending more than three weeks as a captive in Iraq.{...}

Hamadi was released last Friday. Ostoff was released by her captors in Iraq over the weekend. He was allowed to leave the country, which is pretty unusual in any parole situation, no matter what country you're in.

You can draw your own conclusions.

Thanks Germany!

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And they said it couldn't be done! They said, "gee, those people don't have any historical experience with democracy; they won't know what to do with it. Should we really try and impose our western values on them?"

And the answer is, "Yep."

WASHINGTON - As the political battle intensifies over President Bush's efforts to spread democracy to Iraq and the Middle East, an influential human rights organization, Freedom House, has found that the past year brought significant improvements in personal and political rights across the region.

Reports of increased freedom emerged from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories, and observers attributed the results to the Bush administration's support of fledgling democracies worldwide.

The findings were released yesterday as part of Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2006 report, a global survey of political rights and civil liberties published annually by the organization since 1972. The report evaluates countries based largely on criteria drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and rates countries under the categories "political rights" and "civil liberties" on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 indicating the greatest level of freedom.

This year's Freedom in the World based its evaluations on events that took place between December 1, 2004, and November 30. During that time, according to the study, the number of electoral democracies increased from 119 to 122, the most in the report's 33-year history.

In the Middle East, the sweep of successful democratic elections was the decisive factor in improving the region's ratings, Freedom House's research director and a co-editor of Freedom in the World, Arch Puddington, said yesterday.

The most significant change, Mr. Puddington said, took place in Lebanon. Freedom House uses countries' numerical ratings to divide nations into three categories: "free," "partly free," and "not free." This year, Lebanon transitioned from "not free" to "partly free," largely owing to its "Cedar Revolution" in February and March, Mr. Puddington said.{...}

Go read the whole thing.

{Hat Tip: Fausta}

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Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

On the same wavelength as Jeff's post, but not so much that I'm going to toil and try to tie them together---I leave that to you, my devoted Cake Eater readers---Morgan Freeman has said some interesting things in a 60 Minutes interview that will air Sunday:

Morgan Freeman says the concept of a month dedicated to black history is "ridiculous." "You're going to relegate my history to a month?" {...}"I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history."

{...}Freeman notes there is no "white history month," and says the only way to get rid of racism is to "stop talking about it."

The actor says he believes the labels "black" and "white" are an obstacle to beating racism.

"I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man," Freeman says.{...}

I can't wait to watch and see Mike Wallace lose it. That'll be worth whatever CBS' share of the DirecTV's bill actually is---which, if you do the math and take into consideration that we have 300+ channels with DirecTV, is somewhere around $0.20 per month.

Which is totally fair market value to see Mike Wallace sputter incoherently, if you ask me. I wouldn't pay a dime more.

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Iran's freely elected President is at it again:

{...}TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reiterated his doubt about the Holocaust and called on Muslim nations to take a proactive stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, state media reported Tuesday.

The president's comments, published on Iranian state television's Web site, were the second time in a week he has expressed doubt about the Nazi genocide of Jews during World War II. In October, Ahmadinejad also said Israel should be "wiped off the map."

"If the killing of Jews in Europe is true," the Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a speech at an Islamic conference in Tehran, "and the Zionists are being supported because of this excuse, why should the Palestinian nation pay the price?"{...}

{my emphasis}

When it comes, remember that this guy asked for it.

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...perhaps the ever-growing list of idiot celebrities who want to save a murderer who has shown no remorse for the crimes which put him on death row, would find it in their interest to take a look at the case of Cory Maye.

You know, if they're really interested in social justice, fighting the man!, etc., this might be the more worthwhile cause to use their celebrity for.

And people might actually have respect for them instead of contempt.

It's just a suggestion.

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Bubba proves, once again, that he's a two-faced, spotlight hog:

MONTREAL - A contentious U.N. climate conference entered its final day Friday with the long-term future undecided in the fight against global warming, and with a surprise visitor on tap to rally the "pro-Kyoto" forces.

Bill Clinton, who as president championed the Kyoto Protocol clamping controls on "greenhouse gases," was scheduled to speak at the conference Friday afternoon — in an unofficial capacity but potentially at a critical point in backroom talks involving the U.S. delegation.

The U.S. envoys, representing a Bush administration that renounced the Kyoto pact, were said to be displeased by the 11th-hour surprise, although there was no formal protest, according to an official in the Canadian government, the conference host.

This official spoke on condition of anonymity because as a civil servant — not a politician — he is barred from the public light during Canada's current election season.

The U.S. delegation was meeting late Thursday and had no immediate public comment, said spokeswoman Susan Povenmire.

Clinton, who was invited here by the City of Montreal, will speak in the main conference hall between the official morning and afternoon plenary sessions, said U.N. conference spokesman John Hay. Despite its unofficial nature, the speech was sure to attract hundreds of delegates from the more than 180 countries represented.

A city spokesman said the ex-president will be representing the William J. Clinton Foundation, which operates the Clinton Global Initiative, a program focusing on climate change as a business opportunity.

Clinton's vice president, Al Gore, was instrumental in final negotiations on the 1997 treaty protocol initialed in the Japanese city of Kyoto. It mandates cutbacks in 35 industrialized nations of emissions of carbon dioxide and five other gases by 2012.{...}

Isn't this what the French would call a "le slap in ze face?" Why the hell isn't the US delegation protesting? This is a humongous breach in diplomatic etiquette. Former Presidents, or former leaders of any country, not just the United States, do not attend conferences or summits where their home country is already formally represented by the government which currently holds power. It confuses people; it sends the wrong message. The message Bubba's appearance in Montreal sends to the world is, "Well, never mind what the Bush administration says, there are Americans who agree with you. There's still hope for Kyoto."

But you see the thing is is that there isn't hope for Kyoto---at least as far as the United States is concerned---and Bubba knows this. After all, it's a policy that began in his administration. If Bubba had really wanted Kyoto to be ratified, he would have submitted it to the Senate for ratification and actively worked toward that end. But Bubba didn't do that. He knew Kyoto wasn't going to be ratified by the Senate when he had Al Gore sign the stupid thing, so like all legislation he couldn't automatically count on coming straight to his desk with universal acclaim, he didn't bother with it. Bush, at least, had the guts to be honest about his intentions, whereas Clinton was, once again, a gutless wonder who couldn't get a damn thing done---even on a treaty which he'd made the United States a signatory.

I am sick to 'effin death of the Bush Bashing by the climate change freaks. It's amazing: Bush has dealt honestly and fairly with them. He's told them flat-out that he is not going to submit the treaty for ratification---and it's the Senate who ratifies treaties, by the way, not the President---because he doesn't think it's fair to the United States. He could have sent the treaty up to the Senate for ratification and shifted the responsibility for its failure onto the Senate's back, but he didn't do that. He didn't believe it was a treaty the US should have signed, so the buck stopped with him. Yet, despite his lack of interest in Kyoto, Bush is interested in climate change; he's not in willful denial of it; he just doesn't think Kyoto's the way to go---he wants more options that don't lay the bill at the foot of the US economy. The climate change people should be thankful that he's at least told them the truth about US participation, and then gone forward to see what the US needed to participate. But they haven't done that. It's Kyoto or bust! Clinton was, as usual, dishonest. Not only to the American people, but to the world as well. He lied to them when he had Al Gore sign the stupid thing, knowing full well he did not intend to send the treaty to the Senate for ratification. You'd think they would be pissed to holy hell with him. But they're not. The climate change freaks, apparently, enjoy being lied to. They appreciate a honeyed, forked tongue, as opposed to one that tells the truth.

Why the US representatives at the UN conference haven't lodged a formal protest over Bubba's presence, I don't know. But I sure as hell want them to. He has no business being there. Absolutely none. And if the US representatives don't call him on it this time, he's just going to keep on showing up at these things, ultimately undermining their position and any progress they might have made. It's past time to call him on his attention seeking behavior.

UPDATE: Asshole

Posted by: Kathy at 11:50 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Twin Cities' Gay Men's Chorus answered the phones during TPT's (Twin Cities Public Television) latest flog-a-thon and one of Frater's readers, one Ross from Burnsville, wants to know who knew what and when did they know it:

{...}Here are some questions: Did TPT disclose to its audience during the Andy Williams special that their phones were being answered by the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus? It seems inappropriate that such a group would be answering the phones during this kind of programming. What exactly is the relationship between TPT and the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus? Is TPT funding this group? If so, how much is TPT giving them? Would these men really be volunteers if TPT is funding them?

Well, far be it from me to point this out, Ross, but maybe, just maybe, the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus likes to have Andy Williams programming on TPT, and they would like to show their support for such choice programming by answering phones no one else wants to answer. Perhaps they like Andy Williams just as much as your average, Burnsville residing, straight guy and his wife and that's why they were answering the phones during TPT's flog-a-thon.

The chorus' alleged love of the stylings of Andy Williams aside, I suppose they could have also been doing it for the PR, too. Because they do have products to sell and concert halls to fill. And, as we all know, things just don't sell themselves, so if the chorus had to go over to St. Paul and answer phones for a crummy two second endorsement of their products, they'll do that. Because that's usually what being a "media partner" of TPT entails---TPT gets free labor and money and everyone else gets bupkiss.

Ya think either one of those answers could possibly be right, or do we need an independent prosecutor to convene a grand jury to really get to the bottom of things?

Posted by: Kathy at 03:41 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Just ask Kathleen Blanco.

She can tell you how much more important it is to look good, rather than it is to do good.

Because looking good is what really matters in this world.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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