At Last, The Pill For Men
Another step forward in reproductive responsibility. Most interesting quote from the article "If we were inventing a female contraceptive right now, it wouldn't be in pill form".
U.S. Wins Unanimous Backing on U.N. Iraq Aid
I am very interested to see how the democratic candidates spin this. Bush/Powell has accomplished what they have all promised to do which is to get the UN involved. Personally I always thought foreign involvement is a waste of time. Personally I think Bush and friends should be talking to
Walmart. Get three superstores and build a supply chain then you will see that country come around. I think they should also sell oil futures to help finance development, as long as futures are no more than current output which should be a fraction of future output it shouldn't burden the country in obligations it can't meet.
What is Low Morale ?
Another example of media bias or just lazy reporting ?
Survey: U.S. Troops Suffering Low Morale
Military Newspaper Survey Finds Low Morale Among Third of U.S. Soldiers Now Serving in Iraq.
Asked about their personal morale, 34 percent rated it as "low" or "very low," 27 percent said it was "high" or "very high," and virtually all the rest called it "average."
Some 49 percent of those questioned said it was "very unlikely" or "not likely" that they would stay in the military after completing their current obligation.
Needless to say these numbers are meaningless without context. What is moral normally, what is normal reinlistment rate ? Lets take a look according to government figures from 1981 to 1996
Reenlistment rates float around from 43% - to 53%, so 49% of people in Iraq saying they wont reenlist is not news. In fact the fact that there is no significant drop in planned reenlistment rates is actually great news.
Now lets look I couldn't find any moral stats for soldiers in Korea, Germany or America so there is no way to compare morale. So I compared it to job satisfaction for working non military Americans. In Iraq 66% have average or better moral. But in America before the recession and 9/11 and 2 wars and federal deficits. Only
"50.7 percent of respondents overall said they're satisfied with their current jobs". I am comparing mackintosh to red delicious apples but the fact is this is a non news report. See google news for
headlines on this story and determine whether you see bias in the reports.
The Onion | Lieberman Pledges To Gloss Over The Boring Issues"This great nation needs a leader who's willing to roll up his sleeves," he said. "Exactly what I'm going to do, and how I'm going to do it—ack, forget about it. Unlike some of my opponents, I solemnly pledge not to annoy you with endless status reports in the process."
This new message marks a change for Lieberman, who relied on hard-to-understand, fact-riddled positions during his unsuccessful bid for the vice-presidency in 2000.
"I'm the same Joe Lieberman I've always been, just a little easier to tolerate in long stretches," Lieberman said. "I haven't changed on the issues, though—just look at my voting record. Actually, don't waste your time. Those things are really dense."
Germans now think of themselves as "victims" of the Second World WarAccording to another opinion poll, more than a third of the Germans now think of themselves as "victims" of the Second World War -- just like the Jews.
Palestinians Dread America's Wrath After Bombing
Call me shallow but I think that is the appropriate reaction. I am glad the war on terror has made terrorist and their supporters think that there might be consequences for their actions. At the end of the day terrorism is not about criminals its about tactics for political change, and terrorism is unacceptable. The Palestinians would have a state today if they used non violence.
Poverty, American Style: Cars, TVs, Three-Bedroom Homes
While real material hardship certainly does occur, it is limited in scope and severity. The bulk of the "poor" live in material conditions that would have been judged as comfortable or well-off just a few generations ago. Today, the expenditures per person of the lowest income one-fifth (or quintile) of households equal those of the median American household in the early 1970s, after adjusting for inflation.
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-six per cent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one and a half baths, a garage and porch or patio.
Seventy-six per cent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago only 36% of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6% of poor households are overcrowded. More than two thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens and other cities throughout Europe. (Note: These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30% own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television. Over half own two or more color televisions. Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player. Sixty-two percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens; more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
The Bombing of Kosovo - By Michael Moore Friends, Milosevic must be stopped, BUT BOMBING DOES NOT WORK. It has never worked.
Look at past performance of the people you support before you follow them. Of course past performance is no guarantee of future returns.
the triumph of evil
A report on the Rwanda genocide and how the
United Nations and the West ignored warnings of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and turned its back on the victims of the genocide. The program looks at Rwanda history and society, Hutu and Tutsi history,the background to the genocide, the definition of genocide, the failed UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda and the United Nations'inability to prevent the Rwanda genocide.
General Dallaire received a reply the same day. It came from the desk of Kofi Annan, then head of U.N. peacekeeping. Dallaire was told the U.N. didn't agree with his plan to raid the arm caches and furthermore, he must inform the president of Rwanda what he had learned from the informant, even though it was the president's own inner circle that was planning the slaughter of Tutsis.
Rashomon in Iraq
In Rashomon Akira Kurosawa reveals how the truth in any situation depends on your point of view. Four different narrators describe the same brutal act--a woman's rape and her husband's consequent death--yet the facts elude us because each interprets the story to make himself appear in the best light.
This is the key fact that everyone needs to understand when reading or watching or listening to the news.
The reason why I voted for the resolution is still valid
Rep. Jane Harman of California, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, has criticized prewar intelligence on Iraq's weapons. But citing the dangers posed by Saddam, she said, "The reason why I voted for the resolution is still valid."
Some lawmakers' views have been shaped by their visits to Iraq -- and the mass graves and other evidence they saw of atrocities by Saddam's rule.
"I certainly have concerns about the basis for the intelligence and how this was presented to Congress," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., who visited Iraq last month. But of his vote for war, he said: "I still think it was the right thing to do."
It is good to see that all democrats haven't lost their mind. At the end of the day the oppressive sanctions have seemed to have stopped Saddam from creating large amount of chemical weapons (but of that we are not sure, 120 of 130 weapons sites still haven't been searched, nor do we know that they weren't smuggled to Syria with the billions in oil every year that was succesfully smuggled) but we do know that the sanctions were immoral in terms of the harm it did to the Iraqi citizens. And we don't need to talk of the mass graves and the rape rooms.
Time Poverty
Everyone rich and poor is equal when it comes to the number of hours in a day. Everyone has things they don't have because they don't have enough money. It might be a new computer, plasma television or even hamburger. Monetary poverty is measured by economist after economist. But have you ever seen a measure of time poverty.
I suggest that everyone take a moment and look at an average day and see how poor you really are.
I took a moment to write down what I would consider a reasonable time budget for living a relaxed unrushed life.
4 hours a day eating including prep and clean up
8 hours a day sleeping
1 hour a day hygiene including dressing etc
1/2 hour a day cleaning house
1/2 hour a day planning for next day
1 hour a day reading
1 hour a day listing to music/news
2 hour a day television
2 hours a day commuting
8 hours day working
28 hours a day Before anything special or out of the ordinary.
No wonder everyone in the richest society ever created in earth still feels so poor.
