tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36541582011-09-07T16:52:06.832-07:00Deinonychus antirrhopus: terrible clawThis page is here to allow me to comment on various issues ranging from politics, economics, junk science, and other topics that interest me.
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"In a nutshell, [Steve] is 100% unadulterated evil. I do not believe in a 'Satan', but this man is as close to 'the real McCoy' as they come."
--Jamey Lee West
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<A href="http://dinosauricon.com/genera/deinonychus.html">What is Deinonychus Antirrhopus?</A>
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© 2002 Steve Verdon
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<A HREF="mailto:recursive_1@yahoo.com">email</A>Stevenoreply@blogger.comBlogger7991100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-945264392003-05-17T23:08:00.000-07:002003-05-17T23:14:34.000-07:00Good Bye Blogger Yep, I've had enough. Dammit, I am sick of blogger an all the ups and downs in terms of bloggered permalinks, bloggered archives, and just not being able to log into blogger to make a post. And, please lets not even start on the number of times blogger has eaten a lengthy post.
So you can read my bloviating at...
Deinonychus antirhopus, a.k.a. http://www.steveverdon.com
I'mStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-945037552003-05-17T09:58:00.000-07:002003-05-17T09:58:43.236-07:00Social Security Reform: Who Are the Real Bad Guys One of my favorite examples of the left's/Democrat's own visciousness is their portrayal of those who want to reform or even get rid of Social Security as some sort of monsters who want to throw the elderly into the street to be run over by a garbage truck. (Link, link, link, ) Not all responses use that kind of rhetoric (link) although there Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-944088122003-05-15T13:20:00.000-07:002003-05-15T13:21:48.000-07:00Dean's Demagouging Howard Dean as promised that health care will be the center of his 2004 presidential campaign. Great, just what we need, HillaryCare Part II. Anyhow, not content to simply put this policy notion on the table for discussin Dean has to run his mouth off and engage in some might fine stretching of the facts
"Here, in the richest, most advanced country in the world in the 21st Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-944068222003-05-15T12:40:00.000-07:002003-05-15T12:40:23.720-07:00Interesting Post on Medical Care at Asymmetrical Informaiton The post debunks the notion that people without insurance are not aggressively treated (in a medical sense). The comments are also worth a look.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-944058702003-05-15T12:20:00.000-07:002003-05-15T12:20:46.140-07:00Jacob Levy on Taxes Not a bad post overall, I agree that the current tax cuts proposed by President Bush are iffy on the issue of short term stimulus, but one thing that jumped out that I am going to pick on.
I think it would be better to have a coherent supply-side tax cut (say, a small permanent reduction in the capital gains tax) or a coherent Keynesian cut (a three-year increase in personalStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-944052182003-05-15T12:06:00.000-07:002003-05-15T12:06:36.000-07:00Voting Booths vs. the Market Place An interesting article on the problems of relying on the political process to solve problems with the market. There is one interesting point the article raises:
Retrospective studies like Peltzman's gloss over a serious logical flaw at the heart of regulation's popular rationale. Once the flaw is recognized, the rationale crumbles like a house of cards. The Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-944020682003-05-15T10:59:00.000-07:002003-05-15T16:10:49.000-07:00Misquote of the Day Eugene Volokh catches Maureen Dowd in...well a lie. She mangles a quite by President Bush to fit the message she wants to send to her readers and basically distorts the facts. No wonder I don't read her drivel.
Correction: Henry Hanks notes that it was Andrew Sullivan who caught Maureen Dowd.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-943518602003-05-14T14:50:00.000-07:002003-05-14T14:52:06.000-07:00Simply Staggering For years this dimwit worked to get the sanctions agains Iraq lifted. Now, when it looks like the sanctions are going to be lifted which will help the Iraqi people...sliming onto the stage is this guy who
After five years spent working to end the sanctions on Iraq, I find myself in an odd position. I'm opposed to the current U.S. plans to end the sanctions.
Odd? Let me see.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-943418052003-05-14T11:35:00.000-07:002003-05-14T11:35:05.520-07:00The Evil Oreo Cookie A lawyer in California wants to ban the sale of Oreo cookies because of the trans fats that are used in the making of Oreos. What always gets me about these nanny types is that they always point to what medical research says. You are x feet and y inches tall therefore you should weigh z pounds. The problem with this (besides the problems with such generalizations on Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942929412003-05-13T15:55:00.000-07:002003-05-13T15:55:20.300-07:00Arianna Huffington I just read that and I gotta say, she is one whacky woman. Not all that long ago she was rather conservative, now I don't know how to describe her other than just whacked in general. Still the blind chicken does occasionally find the kernel and in this case she has a point. If anything is going to torpedo Bush's re-election bid it is going to be the economy. He needs to Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942797692003-05-13T11:37:00.000-07:002003-05-13T11:37:21.000-07:00Busting Five Environmental Myths Thanks to Lynne Kiesling for the pointer. Anyhow, Ed Ring busts 5 common myths of environmentalism today. The myths are:
Being environmentally correct requires a lower standard of living.
Any good environmentalist is a socialist.
Hydrogen and other renewable energy are the answer to our energy needs.
We have to recycle everything.
New housing developments Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942746612003-05-13T09:58:00.000-07:002003-05-13T10:39:20.000-07:00Kevin Drum's Strawman Kevin points out that nepotism is more rampant than affirmative action (I suppose, although he doesn't provide anything to really back this up), and that conservatives who oppose affirmative action ignore it. What the...?!?! Why does he say this? Does he have any examples or quotes or anything? No. I mean a conservative saying, "Affirmative action is bad, but nepotism Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942724772003-05-13T09:15:00.000-07:002003-05-13T09:15:28.193-07:00Whoa! Kloognome just got a make over. Go take a look, looks much cleaner, IMO. Dang, I really need to find/make the time to get off blogspot.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942721022003-05-13T09:08:00.000-07:002003-05-13T09:11:58.000-07:00Capitalism I often hear many on the left refer to captialism derisively, and it always makes me wonder why. Before we go any further though, I think it is important to define what I mean by capitalism. By capitalism I mean economies characterized by having the market as the primary method of exchange. There that was simple. Now one reason I find it curious that those on the left often refer Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942709722003-05-13T08:50:00.000-07:002003-05-13T08:50:36.706-07:00Freedom Fries, the French and Germans I haven't really blogged about this, mainly becuase I think it is just sort of annoying and silly. However, I must confess that the most annoying people are those who run around scolding Americans who are peeved at the French and Germans for their actions (or more accurately inaction). After all, the Americans running around who are peeved at the French Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942239522003-05-12T13:44:00.000-07:002003-05-12T13:59:38.000-07:00Gripe, gripe, gripe I read this and laughed. Sounds like Ted Rall is a bitter old man at such a young age. Some parts of it were hilarious, IMO:
Life isn't fair to the Democrats. No matter how much they suck up to corporate CEOs, they can't compete for contributions with Republicans who invite their backers to write legislation.
Well there you go you nitwit, just tell those CEOs you are busyStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942177132003-05-12T11:44:00.000-07:002003-05-12T11:44:43.790-07:00Jane Galt on the Laffer Curve An interesting post about high taxes in New York City being pushed higher and its potential for long term damage to the New York City economy. The basic gist is that the Laffer Curve effect of higher taxes decreasing tax revenues as a result of businesses and people leaving the state is an excellent one. One that the bumbling incompetents in Scramento should keep Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942144982003-05-12T10:41:00.000-07:002003-05-12T10:43:23.000-07:00Un-Fricking-Believable Up at the top of my blog was a link to Ironwood Publications. It had some blurb about how 400 economists include 10 Nobel Laureates had signed a letter warning against Bush's tax cut. Curious I clicked the link. I got to the page linked above. Here is what it said at the top:
The American economy, when operating properly, is one of the marvels of the world. It is a Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942124472003-05-12T10:02:00.000-07:002003-05-12T10:04:39.000-07:00Clueless Presidents Lots of people (usually on the left) like to point out how clueless President Bush. Clueless about Iraq, clueless about North Korea, clueless about the economy, clueless about this, that and the other thing. However, it isn't just Bush. I remember back during President Clinton's big push for HillaryCareTM, it was a townhall meeting and this guy got up and asked the Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-942112622003-05-12T09:41:00.000-07:002003-05-12T10:05:24.000-07:00The Consumer is Sovereign Last week Lynne Kiesling at the Information Problem had a post that touched on a notion that gets introduced to any college student taking introductory microeconomic theory (which is probably a very large percentage of students, but who probably forget it once the class is over since they only care about getting the class done for G.E. requirements), namely the idea of Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-941630242003-05-11T13:29:00.000-07:002003-05-12T08:54:06.000-07:00U.S. WMD Search Team to Leave Iraq I have to admit that this does not look good. So far the U.S. has not been able to find much of anything suggesting that Hussein had the level of WMDs that the Bush Administration claimed.
Leaders of Task Force 75's diverse staff -- biologists, chemists, arms treaty enforcers, nuclear operators, computer and document experts, and special forces troops -- Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-940760892003-05-09T15:04:00.000-07:002003-05-09T15:04:53.873-07:00Clinton Hating Thread At DU This is one of those hysterical in an ironic way threads at DU. There are quite a few posts about irrational hatred of President Clinton. What makes it so funny is the irrational hatred described by these DUers is mirrored exactly by the irrational hatred of President Bush by DUers. One newbie who is looking to get tombstoned makes precisely this observation:
Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-940695182003-05-09T12:46:00.000-07:002003-05-09T12:47:52.000-07:00Barney the Blogger Barney, the nom de plum of the guy running MWO Watch Watch Watch Watch, is posting about being banned from commenting on my blog and others. Apparently the guy doesn't even pause and consider that perhaps he is being banned for being a complete ass and swine. For example, the drunkard (Barney Gumble is the drunk on the Simpsons) claims I was using the California electricity Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-940616272003-05-09T10:03:00.000-07:002003-05-09T10:03:28.136-07:00Why the Statistics Posts? I was looking at that post immediately below and thinking, "Ha, most people are going to find that dull." Some might even be wondering, "Cripes I had enough of that in college when I had to take that intro stats class, why is he putting this on his site?" Well, I think it is important. Statistics come at us repeatedly through out the day, everyday, either directly orStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-940580042003-05-09T08:59:00.000-07:002003-05-09T10:08:39.000-07:00More Statistics Blogging Considering the good responses to my last post on statistics I thought I'd try another. Two of the main schools of thought in statistics are the Bayesian and the Frequentist schools. They are in many ways very different, almost diametrically opposed. One area is precision. The Frequentist school takes the view of initial precision while the Bayesian view focuses on Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-940011142003-05-08T10:24:00.000-07:002003-05-08T10:24:24.826-07:00One More from Lynne I can only guess that Lynne is encountering some of the problems with blogspot that I have encountered.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-940010392003-05-08T10:23:00.000-07:002003-05-08T10:23:06.033-07:00Lynne Kiesling Again, but this time on Electricity Lynne nails it again. The idea that electricity is "too complicated" or "different" is Bravo Sierra. If you see your bill going up the simple problem is to reduce your consumption, like you do with all things. The only problem is that most people tend to take electricity and stable prices for granted. (I bet 99.9% of the people coming to Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-939988952003-05-08T09:41:00.000-07:002003-05-08T09:41:55.013-07:00Lynne Kiesling on SUV's and Environmentalists Lynne correctly points out that simply blaming the supplier is rather dumb. The supplier supplies what sells. So many environmentalists (as well as others) believe that firms can simply switch to any product which the environmentalists (or some other group) finds "better" and then everything will be right with the world. The problem is that peopleStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-939443292003-05-07T12:31:00.000-07:002003-05-07T14:55:59.000-07:00Kieran Healy and Generalities In this post Kieran Healy is a bit upset that Michael J. Totten has made a generalization about Democrats. Apparently Healy thinks this is wrong when the generalization is about virtue.
Generalizations are funny these days. People often say, "Don't generalize". Why? Isn't it fair to make the generalization "women have two breasts". Seems accurate enough in Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-939063442003-05-06T20:57:00.000-07:002003-05-06T21:31:32.000-07:00Stats Blogging Day? Seems like lots of people are blogging about statistics today. In this post of mine, about statistics I note that Atrios and Brad De Long both have posts about statistics. Now I find that Kevin Drum also has a post about statistics. Overall not a bad post, I disagree with a few points and you can find my comments in the comments section.
Anyhow in keeping with the Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-938873542003-05-06T14:50:00.000-07:002003-05-06T14:59:18.000-07:00Statistics as Rocket Science Atrios is showing statistical ignorance and Brad De Long is showing his overbearing arrogance.
Atrios has noted that a House Bill will decrease the funding for pension funds for blue collar workers to 70 years, but is leaving the funding levels for white collar workers at 75 years. The thing is that blue collar workers have a life expectancy of 70 years, whereas Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-938760912003-05-06T11:15:00.000-07:002003-05-06T11:16:40.000-07:00Going to Hell in a Handbasket!
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis!Here is how you matched up against all the levels:LevelScorePurgatory (Repenting Believers)Very LowLevel 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)Very LowLevel 2 (Lustful)Very HighLevel 3 (Gluttonous)HighLevel 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)ModerateLevel 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)ModerateLevelStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-938709432003-05-06T09:39:00.000-07:002003-05-06T09:42:37.000-07:00Daniel Drezner on North Korea I have found Daniel Drezner's analysis on various issues to be very informative and useful. You could do alot worse than clicking (and the links in that post) on that link and reading what he has to say.
Although, what he does write is quite alarming. Apparently there Bush Administration has decided not to try and keep North Korea from going nuclear, and is Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-938681472003-05-06T08:49:00.000-07:002003-05-06T08:49:54.100-07:00Senate Electricity Deregulation Bill Looks like another stab at psuedo-deregulation or if you prefer a deregulation face lift. For one thing it does not decrease the regulatory power of regulatory agencies. For example, it places no restriction on FERC's ability to force utilities to join RTO's (Regional Transmission Organizations). Here is a more detailed look at the bill.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-938135232003-05-05T11:22:00.000-07:002003-05-05T11:22:22.273-07:00Nathan Newman's Economic Insights Well, I found this link at Democratic Underground, and it is amazing how Mr. Newman can twist it. Mr. Newman objects to the Bush Administration's revisions to its budget/tax plan because it does not take effect soon enough. The revisions though are so that the tax cuts will fit with the reductions in the size of the tax cuts. That is what Mr. Newman is not Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-938075442003-05-05T09:27:00.000-07:002003-05-05T09:46:09.000-07:00Democratic Undergrounds Social Reform Agenda I found this and thought it would be fun to go through it and see which one's I agree with. Socially, I am quite liberal.
The abolition of all sodomy laws, and lowering the age of consent to 14.
Gay marriage is not necessary, but full legal rights of unmarried partners are, as is the elimination of all anti-gay laws.
Legalization of marijuana, and Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-938066852003-05-05T09:10:00.000-07:002003-05-05T09:10:46.470-07:00Economic Idiocy at Democratic Underground I have been watching several threads at Democratic Underground in the Economic Issues Forum. And it is simply amazing the level of economic ignorance some of the posters (many of the posters?) exhibit.
The first thread is located here. It is actually a sensible question for the first post. Which should stimulate the economy more? A tax cut that Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-936638902003-05-02T11:07:00.000-07:002003-05-02T11:07:46.556-07:00A Strongman for Iraq Daniel Pipes argues that what Iraq needs right now, and pretty quickly on top of it, is for the coalition to put a Strongman in charge of Iraq, an Iraqi strongman. The idea put forward by Pipes is that Iraq has basically just emerged from "the dungeon" and right now is in a state where conspiracy theories and paranoia run rampant. Further, with the different ethnic/Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-936594012003-05-02T09:43:00.000-07:002003-05-02T09:43:05.076-07:00Iraq National Museum Looting Not as Bad as First Reported Great news...especially because Hesiod is once again left eating crow. Hesiod made quite a big deal about this on his blog going so far as to blame the U.S. completely for the thefts...no not that the U.S. stole the artifacts, but that since the U.S. didn't have a plan in place to stop such thefts the U.S. was actually the true culprit..Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-936081962003-05-01T11:27:00.000-07:002003-05-01T11:27:31.310-07:00I'm Sure Many on the Left Are Happy Looks like O'Reilly's future in radio is looking rather grim. His ratings are, overall, pretty bad and in some markets non-existent. Oh well, if you don't have the ratings you don't get to stay on the radio.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-936065842003-05-01T10:53:00.000-07:002003-05-01T11:18:21.000-07:00Poor Hesiod He seems upset with my depiction of him as a ghoul. He is still beating the anti-American drum there. Lately, I have noticed that Hesiod has been relying a great deal on the British press for his new articles, could it be he just can't find articles in the American press that suit his tastes (i.e., are critical of the U.S. and Bush)?
Anyhow, Hesiod has posted an article by a Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-936028912003-05-01T09:42:00.000-07:002003-05-01T12:00:26.000-07:00Presidential Candidates, Universal Health Care, and Smaller Government In this post I noted that I liked Jacoby Levy's criteria for a (Presidential) candidate. Aziz Poonawalla suggested Howard Dean in the comments. So I went and checked out Dean's website. And right away I was cringing in horror. Dean is in favor of Universal Health Care, that is the government taking over the health care Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-935399842003-04-30T09:44:00.000-07:002003-04-30T11:00:16.000-07:00Kevin Drum and Co. on Taxes Thanks to Ricky West for spotting this (by the way Ricky also has something to say on this, so follow the link).
Now, Kevin does pose an interesting hypothesis, that the decrease in the tax burden on millionaires and the increase in the tax burden on "the average family" is the cause for the "declines in economic growth and labor productivity."
First, lets get one Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934895932003-04-29T14:30:00.000-07:002003-04-29T14:30:21.166-07:00Jane's Odd Claim Over at the Daily Rant Jane wrote:
Even though they've only had "a week" (the latest meme that's become "fact"), it also appears that it's been 38 days (not to mention the months and months UN inspectors were there) and "military forces have yet to produce any of the weaponry or chemical or biological agents Powell described, nor have they produced Iraqi scientists with Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934811162003-04-29T11:52:00.000-07:002003-05-01T13:14:13.000-07:00Hesiod...Idiot Extrodinaire A few days ago, Hesiod was bemoaning that the U.S. military did not act like police officers, that they should have acted like police officers, and should have prevented the Iraqi National Museum from being looted. But now, he is pointing out that this is actually a problem. Hesiod also postulates four possible scenarios
1) Our soldiers overreacted to a bunch of Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934803362003-04-29T11:38:00.000-07:002003-04-29T11:38:34.163-07:00Nothing Serious Going on These Days When the biggest deal in the world to Atrios is a stupid fight between two dimbulbs at MSNBC you know not much must be going on. Apparently Atrios is just outraged by this, and so are is readers (well over 100 comments). Perhaps Atrios is depressed what with the war being over quickly and with so few casualties.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934753132003-04-29T10:03:00.000-07:002003-04-29T10:03:53.546-07:00DU: Bush Wanted 9/11 Talk about full bore paranoia. Here is a particularly daming bit of evidence:
Osama Bin Laden was trained to be a terrorist by George Bush Sr and the CIA. Therefore, whatever the facts turn out to be, Bush is responsible.
The also obvious facts are:
1) Many of the hijackers took their flight lessons in Texas and Florida, while Junior and Jeb were the governors of those Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934746622003-04-29T09:51:00.000-07:002003-04-29T09:51:53.033-07:00Democratic Undergrounders Find Property Rights...Idiotic Hypocrites Its funny, if you went there and extolled the virtures of property rights, I have little doubt your account would be tombstoned. Property rights after all are synonymous with markets, which is synonymous with Reaganomics, which makes you and EVIL FREEPER!!Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934741122003-04-29T09:41:00.000-07:002003-04-29T09:41:47.086-07:00Democratic Underground on Condoleezza Rice Nice, eh? Figures the bottom dwellers at DU would see the first black female in a position of power not as something to be happy about, but to make crass and disgusting innuendo about. What juevenile nitwits. Gee where is Atrios, Josh Marshall and the rest of the gang...probably too busy (verbally) beating up Rev. Moon or something.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934237642003-04-28T14:42:00.000-07:002003-04-28T14:42:26.000-07:00Jane Finch's Amazingly Bad Logic Jane is apparently upset that not that the war is over, WMDs were not found in Saddam's palace basement. Apprarently only a week is long enough for the U.S. to find the WMDs and since a week has gone by and no WMDs the U.S. and Britain must have been lying.
Further there is this amazingly excellent feat of illogic
They don't exist until they're proven to existStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934174472003-04-28T12:46:00.000-07:002003-04-28T12:46:57.000-07:00Bigotry DU Style Apparently the nitwits at DU didn't see enough people of color amongst the troops in Iraq. Of course, if they saw too many they'd be screaming about bigotry. Damned if you do...damned if you don't.
Lets also not forget that one of the P.O.W.s was named Edgar Hernandez (do the dimwits at DU only see black and white?).
Yep, all white.
Let us also not forget Cpl. Edward ChinStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934158872003-04-28T12:18:00.000-07:002003-04-28T12:18:22.633-07:00Democratic Underground Yikes, that thread scares me.
From the opening post by Q:
- Moderates (fence sitters, middle of the roaders, centrists) seem too willing to compromise on issues important to the survival of Democracy.
- The People had to FIGHT for many of the rights we take for granted today. It wasn't the moderates (fence sitters) who fought for the voting rights of women and Blacks. Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934150112003-04-28T12:02:00.000-07:002003-04-28T12:02:37.883-07:00Check Out D.U.M.B. For your daily dose of whacky Democratic rantings and ravings. (Note: I don't think that all Democrats are kooky, just the majority of posters at D.U. It is indeed a site run by the fringe of the Democratic Party.)Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-934096182003-04-28T10:17:00.000-07:002003-04-28T10:17:12.830-07:00The Self-Appointed Mayors Are No More The self-appointed Mayor of Baghdad has been arrested by U.S. forces (link), and the self-appointed Mayor of Kut has scampered off with his tail between his legs (link--thanks to Robert Crawford for both links). I must say this is a very good sign.
From the Reuters article on the situation in Kut:
Marginalized in Kut by the U.S. Marines, who worked with Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-933474022003-04-27T09:34:00.000-07:002003-04-27T09:34:10.743-07:00More on California's Fiscal Nightmare--Democrats Run Amok Here is something from the Pacific Research Institute...I know nothing about them for those of you who like to attack sources, but if what this website is saying is true, then I am four-square in favor of the recall effort for Davis. I know it will probably fail, but I don't care, any chance to get rid of the lying sack of dog crap is Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-932553692003-04-25T11:56:00.000-07:002003-04-25T11:56:41.000-07:00I Know the Feeling Ricky West has found a "new" (new to me at least) blog, Discount Blogger who points out an interesting fact about some on the left..that if you disagree with one Democratic issue you automatically become a right-winger. I have been labelled a right-winger, supply sider, etc. many times. However, here are some of the things I am in favor of
Pro-choice on abortion
LegalizingStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-932542772003-04-25T11:34:00.000-07:002003-04-25T11:35:05.000-07:00Robert Crawford on Santorum's Idiocy I totally agree. Don't try to defend it, just say you disagree with it and be done with it. Trying to defend him or his position will only result in the defender being labelled a homophobe, and an authoritarian.
On this issue in general I have always been baffled as to why some people are so damned concerned what consenting adults do in private. I don't Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-932536652003-04-25T11:23:00.000-07:002003-04-25T11:23:31.603-07:00Baghdad's Self-Appointed Ruler Wants to Work with Garner Looks like Zubaidi is trying to legitimize his power grab by getting Garner to give it his stamp of approval.
Zubaidi appealed for cooperation a day after Garner threatened to boot him out if residents rejected him.
At a meeting of tribal chiefs and other citizens, Zubaidi said the city would show its support for his council, which Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-932525932003-04-25T11:03:00.000-07:002003-04-25T11:03:10.956-07:00The Ethnic Bomb If you aren't comming in from Trash Talk or from Aziz Poonawalla's Unmedia there is a good chance you are missing the current discussion on this topic. Winds of Change has a very nice round up on this topic. I highly recommend it.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-932524212003-04-25T11:00:00.000-07:002003-04-25T11:00:02.006-07:00OxBlog on Iraq and the Problems There Basically this post attempts to rebut the various articles that have been appearing in the Washinton Post that paint a rather pessimistic picture in Iraq. There are indeed some good points, but I disagree with other points as well. For example,
Thankfully, US officials don't seem prone to rush to conclusions as fast as the media has. As Jay Garner said,
Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-932239822003-04-24T22:33:00.000-07:002003-04-24T22:35:54.000-07:00California's Fiscal Nightmare My first point is: where are people like Kevin Drum and Paul Krugman. Krugman after all loves to lament how various states have deficits totalling anywhere from $60-$80 billion dollars. What the Good Professor wont tell you is that anywhere from 50% to 75% of that is just from California alone. Yep California has a $30+ billion plus deficit that was brought to Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-931885282003-04-24T10:32:00.000-07:002003-04-24T11:14:50.000-07:00Jacoby Levy Asks (Its near the bottom of the post.)
Can anyone name for me a candidate in a competitive race (or, really, any candidate) for either Senate or House who is
pro-choice;
pro-trade (supports NAFTA, TPA, and WTO without weaselly exceptions, hasn't been a force in favor of any of the dumb protectionist moves in the past few years);
not-actively-antigay (sometimes one takes what oneStevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-931872242003-04-24T10:09:00.000-07:002003-04-24T10:09:43.670-07:00More on Iran's Involvment in Iraq This article from the New York Times indicates that Iranian agents have been moving into Iraq to promote an Iranian style government with the Shi'ite clerics in the southern part of Iraq.
Until last week, some gunmen from the group's Badr Brigade maintained a visible presence in the town of Baquba, near the Iranian border, and in the larger city of Kut, Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-931855802003-04-24T09:39:00.000-07:002003-04-24T09:39:25.000-07:00Why is this Guy Still Around? The self-proclaimed mayor of Kut that is. Now the U.S. is warning him not to arm his followers. Hello? If he is even hinting of doing this, why hasn't he been detained/arrested?
Lieutenant General David McKiernan, the commander of ground forces in Iraq, issued a proclamation putting Iraq's politicians on notice, saying: "The coalition alone retains absolute Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-931299942003-04-23T12:27:00.001-07:002003-04-23T12:27:58.000-07:00Stupid Legislators Looks like the Motion Picture Association has got its hand up the backside of several legislatures around the country.
Now Super DMCA has claimed one of its first victims, the award-winning open-source application LaBrea, which is designed to stop the spread of worms such as Nimda across the Internet. Tom Liston, the developer of LaBrea, has stopped distribution of the Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-931287382003-04-23T12:04:00.000-07:002003-04-23T12:04:09.266-07:00Well This Doesn't Look Good Looks like the Bush Administration was totally unprepared for the Shi'ites in Iraq standing up and being such a force, and that there is a very serious possibility that a fundamentalist Islamic state could form in Iraq which would definitely be...very bad. Now, there'd basically be two Irans...or a really big Iran.
U.S. intelligence reports reaching top officials Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-930959942003-04-22T22:59:00.000-07:002003-04-22T22:59:36.610-07:00Wow...a Bank Run I'm a bit surprised at this. Didn't anybody tell these people that their accounts are insured for upto $100,000 by the federal government?
But depositors who read an article in a Chinese newspaper or heard reports on a Chinese-language radio station yesterday converged on three branches — two in Chinatown, including the one at Canal and Mott Streets that had been run by the Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-930956722003-04-22T22:51:00.000-07:002003-04-22T23:16:18.000-07:00Maureen Dowd Ughh, that is all I have to say. Well...okay not really...
The Bushies pretend that we don't want an all-access pass to Iraqi bases (we do); that we are not interested in influencing the disposition of Iraqi oil (we are); that we will stay out of Iraqi politics, even if they go fundamentalist (we won't); and that we will leave Iraq soon (we can't).
What a twit. Even though I Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-930945742003-04-22T22:25:00.000-07:002003-04-22T22:25:55.476-07:00Wow Big Surprise Here Bush has "left it to Greenspan" to decide if he wants another term as head of the Federal Reserve Board. Not at all surprising given the weak state of the economy right now. While some have speculated in the past that Bush might want to consider not reappointing Greenspan, Bush really doesn't have much of an option right now given that many would see that as a very bad Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-927851912003-04-17T09:21:00.000-07:002003-04-17T09:21:13.060-07:00Iraq and the U.S. Occupation This is another thing I was thinking about on the way to work. The U.S. right now seems to be stumbling in Iraq, and if something is not done the U.S. could fall flat on its face. The self-appointed mayor in al Kut is an example. Instead of going in and sending this guy packing (or even to jail for a while to contemplate his misdeeds), the U.S. stands around Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-927843552003-04-17T09:05:00.000-07:002003-04-17T09:22:44.000-07:00More on Michael Tomasky I was thinking about Tomasky's column that I blogged about here a bit more and realized there was more I wanted to say about it. The problem I really have is Tomasky's notion that the Right, i.e. conservatives, have some sort of monopoly or are particularly intolerant. Take a quick trip to Democratic Underground and try posting something even remotely in favor of Bush (Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-927222522003-04-16T09:13:00.000-07:002003-04-16T09:13:04.466-07:00The Subjunctive Just found out about this blog. The guy who runs it also posts at a BB I post at as well, Trash Talk. mal-3, his username at Trash Talk, hasn't been a prolific poster, but he makes up for the lack of quantity with quality. So check out his blog, and if you want, check out Trash Talk, its a good place to get answers.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-927219042003-04-16T09:06:00.000-07:002003-04-16T09:06:12.640-07:00An Interesting Thread
I repeat my prediction - we keep going down this inclusive, hands-off, let-the-Iraqis-decide route, and in a year, the whole nation will be collapsed into a mess of religious and ethnic fiefdoms, all busy fighting each other and exporting just as much terrorism as they did before. They're simply not capable of resisting the forces that will make that happen without we keep Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-926703192003-04-15T13:16:00.000-07:002003-04-15T13:22:43.000-07:00Mark Steyn Read it for a good dose of reality.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-926699732003-04-15T13:09:00.000-07:002003-04-16T09:57:01.000-07:00Matt Welch on the Dark Side of Liberalism In that post Matt points us to a column by Michael Tomasky who is actively wanting less press and less comeptition between media organizations.
There's a lesson in this, and in the whole tale, for our side. Tolerance for other views has been part of the very essence of liberalism since John Stuart Mill. Read Lionel Trilling's brief introduction to The Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-926684112003-04-15T12:40:00.000-07:002003-04-15T12:40:09.763-07:00Protests In Iraq Personally I think it is a good thing. After all isn't this one of the reasons we went in there (yeah, yeah, I know it was to find/disarm Saddam of WMDs, but I think the freeing of the Iraqi people was a secondary consideration). So now the Iraqis get a chance to get out there and make their views known. The thing that has to be watched out for is that no single faction gets Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-926651622003-04-15T11:38:00.000-07:002003-04-15T11:50:18.000-07:00The Ten Most Outrageous Facts About the Income Tax and the IRS
1. The IRS "tax army" is six times larger than the U.S. army stationed in Iraq. Income taxes are so complex that there are up to 1.2 million paid tax preparers in the country-six times more than the 200,000 or so troops in Iraq.1 The IRS itself has a workforce of 100,000.2
2. Tax code sets new record of 54,846 pages. The number Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-926649562003-04-15T11:35:00.000-07:002003-04-15T11:35:01.810-07:00Kevin's Bogus Economics Kevin gets it right that housing prices are higher due to the mortgage deduction, but he fails to realize, that while you are paying a higher mortgage you are also building equity. That latter you can sell that house (or refinance it) and take that equity out to spend on other things or move, or whatever. For example, when you retire, you might decide to relocate to an Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-926644252003-04-15T11:24:00.000-07:002003-04-15T11:24:42.576-07:00The Anthropic Principle, Probability Theory and God Some of you may have noticed I have taken a dim view of William Dembski's attempts to use probability theory to "prove" the existence of a God (actually Dembski doesn't say he is trying to prove the existence of God, but of a Designer...as to who that Designer is, Dembski leaves to his readers).
Here is another bit of Creationist of rhetoric Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-926629672003-04-15T10:55:00.000-07:002003-04-15T10:55:16.733-07:00Hesiod the Moronic Here Hesiod takes Glenn Reynolds to task for not blaming President Bush for the looting of historical Iraqi artifacts from Museums. Lets ignore that we don't know when the looting actually took place. It is possible that some, all, or none of the artifacts were taken prior to the U.S. even getting close to Baghdad.
Further, Hesiod's pap completely absolves that actual Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-924462352003-04-11T12:40:00.000-07:002003-04-11T12:41:33.000-07:00Trivial Pursuits Blog This is Daniel Goldberg's blog, Daniel has been posting periodically in my comments, and its a fine blog. Left of center and reasonable, such as his post on Supply Side Economics. So check it out, the blogosphere needs more left of center blogs like this.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-923015622003-04-09T10:13:00.000-07:002003-04-09T10:19:37.000-07:00Some Good Stuff from MEMRI Here is some of the stuff you can find at the Middle East Media Research Institute:
Bush Jr. Would Outdo Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin
What no Mao? Well that is a tall order. Let me see that would be 30-40 million people killed...hmmm, maybe Bush isn't after getting rid of Saddam's WMDs, but wants them so Bush can use them![/end sarcasm]
"It was only in the last Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-923005982003-04-09T09:56:00.000-07:002003-04-09T09:59:16.000-07:00Main U.S. Military Base in South Korea to Move out of Seoul Looks like both sides want this. Although there is some concern that such a move could make the south more vulnerable to attack by the North.
You know, I find this amusing in a sort of macabre way. The South Koreans don't want a tough stance with North Korea...but they don't want us to leave because they are afraid they'll be Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-923003332003-04-09T09:52:00.000-07:002003-04-09T09:52:01.013-07:00Is Saddam in the Russian Embassy? Well according to Rueters, the Russians are saying, "No".Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-922304302003-04-08T09:46:00.000-07:002003-04-08T09:46:11.700-07:00Okay So Its a Little Late This is an article by Mark Strauss that looks at the issue of going to war in Iraq (hey, this is a quarterly magazine so there is a lag time). Still there are some things that I found interesting, such as the section on the deterrability of Saddam.
Many on the left who oppose the war argued that Saddam could be contained/deterred. Strauss argues that while Saddam Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-922293902003-04-08T09:27:00.000-07:002003-04-08T09:27:41.716-07:00What the Heck Are They Smoking at the Guardian? The title of that article looked interesting:
The two horrible flaws in Blair's Panglossian vision
Then there was the opening paragraph
George Bush and Tony Blair met in Belfast last night mainly to talk about the consequences of military victory. Seven days earlier and the context would have been different. A week seems to be a longer time in Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-921741292003-04-07T14:15:00.000-07:002003-04-07T14:17:36.000-07:00OPEC Considers an Emergency Meeting as Prices for Oil Plummet Gee didn't anybody get the memo? I thought this war was supposed to push oil prices up. A glut...why that is no good for Bush's oil buddies.[end sarcasm]Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-921623722003-04-07T10:55:00.000-07:002003-04-07T10:55:26.030-07:00Hesiod is Still an Asshole It had been a while, but I thought I'd see what kind of sleazy innuendo Hesiod was posting and boy I was not disappointed. In that link Hesiod strongly implies that Bush is going to use the SARS outbreak and the recent quarentine bill Bush signed to round up political opponents.
Nice.
Earlier Hesiod speculates that a Marine commander that was relieved of duty in Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-921617812003-04-07T10:45:00.000-07:002003-04-07T10:45:47.263-07:00Anti-War Whining With respect to the kook with the gun, geez, nice smear in painting all pro-war supporters as kooks with guns.
As for disrupting things: Well clearly something must be done. Only the anti-war crowd is allowed to disrupt anything.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-921608022003-04-07T10:29:00.000-07:002003-04-07T10:29:23.716-07:00Chemical Ali Reported as Dead Supposedly he was killed in an airstrike in Basra according to the British. The airstrike was against al-Majeed's home in Basra.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-921606672003-04-07T10:27:00.000-07:002003-04-07T10:27:00.170-07:00Blair Needs Bush to Cross the Atlantic An interesting article on the symbolic nature of President Bush's visit to Northern Ireland.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-921308582003-04-06T22:37:00.000-07:002003-04-07T10:35:35.000-07:00U.S. Soldiers Possibly Exposed to Sarin or Tabun Nerve Gas Tests at an Iraqi military compound came back postive for a G-series nerve agent which includes Sarin and Tabun, both of which Iraq has been known to produce.
The evacuation of dozens of soldiers Sunday night followed a day of tests for the nerve agent that came back positive, then negative. Additional tests Sunday night by an Army Fox Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-920125082003-04-04T16:00:00.000-08:002003-04-04T16:02:04.000-08:00Democratic Underground Dances on Michael Kelly's Grave Here are some of the better comments:
Kanzeon:
I find it hard to be sad...Frankly, the less conservative pundits, the better. Though I wish they'd just consider their career options flipping burgers at McDonald's.
9215
Agreed, New Yorker
This warmongering chickenshit chickenhawk [Kelly] is more deserving of death than innocent Iraqi Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-920119072003-04-04T15:46:00.000-08:002003-04-04T16:02:29.000-08:00Hypocrisy from Democratic Underground Administrator Skinner Apparently he is trying to make an open forum...hey why are you laughing?Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-919444072003-04-03T15:30:00.000-08:002003-04-03T15:31:46.000-08:00Josh Chafetz on Marc Herold's Methodology for the Iraqi Civilian Casualties Project It is clearly biased upwards. Instead of saying, "This guy could be lying so we will not count those numbers in the minimum" or some such they go right ahead and accept whatever number the Iraqi Information Ministry claims. Further, Herold's minimum number is actually higher than what the Iraqi Information Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-919433722003-04-03T15:09:00.000-08:002003-04-03T15:09:11.090-08:00Nicholas De Genova: Genocidal Maniac or Just Plain Stupid Idiot? Nicholas De Genova is a professor at Columbia University who has announced that he is hoping for "a million more Mogadishus". What the good Professor does not realize is that while it was not a good thing for the U.S. military it was even worse for the Somalis in Mogadishu. Around 100 U.S. soldiers fought and killed Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-918708582003-04-02T14:19:00.000-08:002003-04-02T15:00:57.000-08:00So How Goes the War? Well according the John Keegan it is going quite well. Despite the alarmist hysterics on the news, this is not another Vietnam, this is not a quagmire (at least yet). Keegan offers the following simple procedure for assessing the war.
Divide a sheet of paper with a line down the middle, and then list unfavorable events/conditions and favorable events/conditions.
The Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-917956422003-04-01T13:36:00.000-08:002003-04-01T13:40:09.000-08:00Well Big Surprise The Dipshits at Blogspot have fucked up my Template. Morons. They did something to update their templates or some such and now every post that is not from the current day is in italics and bold. Fuckwits.
Well...it seems fixed now. Hopefully it wont come back. Hmmm, looks like I can also add new links. About time.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-917789352003-04-01T08:17:00.000-08:002003-04-01T13:28:12.000-08:00Ansar al-Islam linked to al Qaeda Looks like Bush might have been right, that Iraq was providing a safe haven for al-Qaeda terrorists.
Here is another article on this.
An American officer familiar with the search for evidence said detailed recipes for toxins and chemical agents had been discovered in the Ansar al-Islam camps. Also recovered were page-by-page translations of U.S. military Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3654158.post-917261922003-03-31T11:45:00.000-08:002003-03-31T11:45:15.046-08:00Who Sold What to Saddam This article points out that the U.S. Military is not only looking for weapons of mass destruction, but who also violated the embargo with Iraq and helped to arm the dictator. For example, apparently some of Saddam's forces have GPS jammers.
Despite both U.S. laws and UN sanctions that prohibited all but a handful of commercial dealings with Baghdad, there have been Stevenoreply@blogger.com