11.12.06
Why we should be proud: Bush view
I believe it’s important that Americans appreciate the democratic process, but this seems to have “soft bigotry of low expectations” written all over it. From yesterday’s presidential radio address:
“One freedom that defines our way of life is the freedom to choose our leaders at the ballot box. We saw that freedom earlier this week, when millions of Americans went to the polls to cast their votes for a new Congress. Whatever your opinion of the outcome, all Americans can take pride in the example our democracy sets for the world by holding elections even in a time of war.” (emphasis added)
We should be “proud” that the federal government didn’t cancel our elections? That the Bush administration didn’t use the war as an excuse to interrupt the democratic process?
Macbook freeware
The post title tells it all: “extremely useful Macbook freeware“.
Another reason to stay home for the holidays
Airlines are losing baggage at a great clip:
Since Aug. 10, when a ban on most carry-on liquids sent the amount of checked luggage soaring, airlines have been misplacing many more bags, and the fumbling could well escalate during the busy holiday travel season.
The Transportation Department reported that 107,731 more fliers had their bags go missing in August than they did a year earlier, a 33 percent increase. It got worse in September, with 183,234 more passengers suffering mishandled bags than a year earlier, up 92 percent.
Globally, about 30 million bags are mishandled each year, according to SITA, a company that sells software to airlines and airports for baggage and other systems. Airlines spend about $2.5 billion to find those bags and deliver them to waiting, often angry, passengers.
All but about 200,000 bags are eventually reunited with their owners each year — a number that sounds pretty high on its own, but that represents less than 1 percent of the billions of bags that are checked annually.
Efforts are under way to fix two of the worst baggage operations in the United States — at US Airways in Philadelphia and at Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which operates as Delta Connection here. Both airlines had scrimped on workers and equipment at these airports. But it is far from certain whether these hubs will be running smoothly by Thanksgiving.
Read the rest of this entry »
Concise statement of Beltway insight
It is hard to overstate how ignorant and wrong Beltway pundits are about everything, and how barren and corrupt inside-Washington conventional wisdom is.
The statement occurs in a context that I encourage you to read. Here, I’ll get you started:
When Russ Feingold announced in March that he would introduce a resolution to censure President Bush for breaking the law by eavesdropping on Americans without warrants, a clear two-pronged consensus immediately arose among Beltway pundits and politicians — including Republicans and many Democrats as well:
(1) Feingold had just disastrously handed a huge “gift” to Republicans, because opposition to Bush’s warrantless eavesdropping would doom the Democrats politically, and,
(2) Feingold had introduced this resolution not because he really believed anything he was saying about it, but only as a “political stunt,” selfishly designed to advance his own political interests (at the expense of his party) by shoring up the “liberal base” for his 2008 presidential run.
As for premise (1), Democrats spent all year opposing warrantless eavesdropping (mostly mild and reluctant opposition, though in some cases passionate). That opposition culminated in a House vote just 6 weeks before the election where 85% of Democrats voted against a bill to legalize warrantless eavesdropping.
Thereafter, Republicans did everything possible to make that an issue in the campaign, and Democrats just crushed Republicans in the election. As but one example, 12-term GOP incumbent Nancy Johnson made her support for warrantless eavesdropping (and her challenger’s opposition to it) a centerpiece of her campaign. She was easily defeated.
As for premise (2), Russ Feingold announced today, definitively, that he is not running for President in 2008.
It is hard to overstate how ignorant and wrong Beltway pundits are about everything, and how barren and corrupt inside-Washington conventional wisdom is.
Read the rest of this entry »
Congressional oversight once more
Another thing I remember from the old days was Congressional oversight: Congress having committees and investigators that checked out what the Executive branch was doing and how well the job was being done. It was called “oversight” and was generally seen as a good thing to do. The GOP, of course, did away with this function. Under the GOP, Congress had as its priorities: 1) getting payoffs and freebies and 2) funneling money to large businesses. Oh, and 3) practicing medicine via old videos of patients.
Take a look at this article in the NY Times:
Congressional Democrats say they will press new legislation next week to restore the power of a federal agency in charge of ferreting out waste and corruption in Iraq and greatly increase its investigative reach.
The bills, the first of what are likely to be dozens of Democratic efforts to resurrect investigations of war profiteering and financial fraud in government contracting, could be introduced as early as Monday morning.
The move would nullify a Republican-backed provision, slipped into a huge military authorization bill, that set a termination date for the agency, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. The agency’s findings have consistently undermined Bush administration claims of widespread success in the reconstruction of Iraq.
Oversight, the power wielded by Congressional committees to demand information and internal documents and to haul executive branch officials to hearings, by subpoena if necessary, is reverberating through Congress as a Democratic battle cry.
“The unilateral decision made by House Republicans to shut down this critical office should be reversed immediately,” said Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who is poised to become the majority leader.
The House version of the bill will be introduced by Ike Skelton, the Missouri Democrat likely to take over as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, a member of Mr. Skelton’s staff said Friday. Mr. Skelton also said he would resurrect a subcommittee on oversight and investigations that was jettisoned by Republicans to investigate military spending.
In the Senate, Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who is in line to become chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that seeking a new strategy for Iraq would be his primary focus, but that he would also look carefully at military contracting.
“There have been serious allegations and evidence of misconduct among suppliers,” Mr. Levin said. “And the taxpayers, of course, get socked on that. And the troops are not properly taken care of when that happens.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Watching you closely
The eye of a god—the god, in this case, being Saturn. Click for a larger view so you can peer into the eye. Read all about it.
How the world has changed
I was thinking about that summer I mentioned, 52 years ago, and I realized suddenly one big difference between that world and this. Well, maybe it’s a small difference. In those days, you could go into any kitchen and open the draw that holds the knives and such, and there would be an icepick. Every kitchen had one, even if they no longer used iceboxes to cool food. (Though when I was younger, my grandmother still used an icebox. I remember the little cardboard sign that was put in the screen door, held by the diagonal brace, to tell the iceman how big a block of ice to bring—usually the 25-lb block.)
At any picnic, there would be a large block of clear ice, with a single seam of cloudy ice, and the icepick would come into play, chipping off ice for drinks, to cool the watermelon, to fill the ice-cream maker, to give to the little kids.
Now, of course, the 7-11 and the supermarket carry bags of cloudy ice, crushed and in cubes, and one just picks up a bag or two. No need for icepicks, and they’ve vanished. :sigh: I liked that clear ice in the big blocks.
How to tie a tie
I saw a new post at Lifehacker on how to tie and tie, and idly clicked the video. Imagine my shock and chagrin when I saw that the so-called “tie” they were using was a four-in-hand. In my worldview, a long tie more or less asserts, “I’ll conform. I’ll obey. Just keep me in the group.” I wore a bowtie, which states, “I can think for myself. I set limits, even to be a member of group.” Here’s how to tie a tie:
And, though I hate to point out the obvious: Guys, when you enter the room wearing a bowtie, look around. If there’s a woman on whom you have your eye, gently and inconspicuously make the tie crooked as you approach her, with one end higher than the other. As you talk to her, she will not be able to resist straightening your tie. Now you’re on your own.
