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December 2002 Entries
This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, [or] on the Gaza Strip..."

Boy, has that changed. That quote is from the Palestinian National Charter in 1964. At that time the West Bank was in Jordan and the Gaza Strip was in Egypt. Now those lands are the "ancestral homelands of the Palestinian people." I guess times change. The article is Explaining 'Palestine' and questions whether the militant Palestinians seek a homeland or the destruction of Israel.

posted @ Thursday, December 26, 2002 10:20 AM | Feedback (0)
I've decided there's something I'd like to give the government more money for. Normally I'm opposed to anything that requires me to give the government more money unless you can show me a pretty clear benefit. I renewed my driver's license yesterday and I got one of those horrible driver's license photos. Why won't they let me upload a better picture for a small fee? Or maybe a not so small fee considering the vanity of some people. They could review it and make sure it's really me. That would also force me to fill out all the paperwork online ahead of time. They get more money and do less work and I get a better picture on my license. That's a "win-win situation" in trendy business terminology.
posted @ Saturday, December 21, 2002 1:38 PM | Feedback (0)
Did you ever watch "Win Ben Steins Money" on Comedy Central. I did every now and then. It was usually a pretty entertaining quiz show. Plus it had Jimmy Kimmel who I like. Now it appears Jimmy's cousin is the co-host. Small world. Anyway. Ben wrote an article for Forbes titled How to Ruin American Enterprise.
Create a culture that blames the other guy for everything and discourages any form of individual self-restraint or self-control. Promote litigation to punish tobacco companies on the theory that they compel innocent people to smoke. Make it second nature for someone who is overweight to blame the restaurant that served him fries.

After reading all twelve I have to agree with Ben. Many of them seem to be focused on lawyers. Hmmm. It's quite a wide variety of problems he sees in our society. Just reinforces for me that Ben's a pretty smart guy.

posted @ Saturday, December 21, 2002 1:33 PM | Feedback (0)
Here's some great information on the piracy "numbers" the RIAA is spouting off.
So the record industry cut their inventory (and artist investment) by 25 percent and sales only dropped 4.1 percent, even though the economy is at rock bottom. There were almost 12,000 fewer new releases for the consumer to choose from in 2001 than 1999. The record companies are making more money per release than ever.
posted @ Wednesday, December 18, 2002 3:14 PM | Feedback (0)
Here's another one. South Africa can't afford AIDS medication. Because they're buying submarines. In case Bush invades. No really.
Asked if it could come from defence savings from leaving out the submarines which formed part of a 4-[billion pounds sterling] arms deal, the minister said that South Africa needed to deter aggressors: "Look at what Bush is doing. He could invade."

Could these possibly be the stupidest people on earth? If Bush really wanted to have South Africa, he could just wait until they all die of AIDS and take the country. Did they elect this idiot or is he a dictator?

posted @ Tuesday, December 17, 2002 10:46 AM | Feedback (0)
I don't know what to make of this. Is it sad? Is it funny? I laughed. I just don't know though. It certainly is one weird clash of cultures when women in the American armed forces strip down to a sports bra before searching female Afghanis for weapons -- just so everyone will know they're women. Apparently the concept of a woman in pants in the military is a little bit odd to the Afghanis. And the only way these servicewomen can prove their "female-ness" is to, well, prove it. Talk about expediency in the face of a bizarre situation. Maybe they'll start this trend in American airports. Ok, maybe not. I still don't know. And the article has more funny parts I didn't even get to cover.
posted @ Monday, December 16, 2002 5:30 PM | Feedback (0)
In case you haven't been paying attention - and I haven't - the Challenger Series of the America's Cup is well under way. It looks like it will be a Swiss team against an American team for the right to face New Zealand for the Cup in February. Kind of ironic since Switzerland doesn't touch an ocean.
posted @ Sunday, December 15, 2002 10:21 PM | Feedback (0)
The 2002 Google Zeitgeist is out. "Remember the year in searches." I get such a kick out of these things! You'll also notice that once again I wasn't in the top 10 most searched for men. Obviously a technical glitch they'll get fixed next year.
posted @ Thursday, December 12, 2002 2:23 PM | Feedback (0)
The Iranians are still struggling against their theocratic regime. All the students want is a chance to vote on the current government. Is that so bad?
posted @ Wednesday, December 11, 2002 9:43 AM | Feedback (0)
It started out as an article on autism. It finished as an article discussing the gender differences in our brains.
Autism, in its many guises, is an overwhelmingly male affliction, characterised by an abnormality in social development and communication skills and, usually, an obsessional interest in all sorts of weird, mechanistic stuff, from an early age (usually between three and five years). The current thesis among those studying autism holds that the condition is simply an extreme example of male behaviour.
posted @ Tuesday, December 03, 2002 8:44 AM | Feedback (0)
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