Posts from — April 2006

Via CNN, NOAA has officially removed Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma from the rotation of tropical storm/hurricane names. The names of storms that cause significant damage or the loss of life are removed from the list to avoid future confusion.

The first name of the new season is Alberto, which was a tropical storm and major rain event when it came ashore near me in 1994. The names that are not removed are reused every six years.

In the first hour of All Things Considered their coverage of the Zacarias Moussaoui sentencing hearing included an interview with Mrs. Mindy Kleinberg. Her husband, Alan, was a securities trader with Cantor Fitzgerald, working on the 104th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11.

I find myself is the rare position of being in total agreement with the lady: Moussaoui is an evil person who should spend the rest of his life in prison to protect society, but he was not part of the 9/11 plot and is being used as a scapegoat.

She wants to see the people who were responsible captured and tried; the FBI fixed; the CIA fixed; emergency services in NYC have a working communications system.

Consider for a moment what Moussaoui has claimed: he and Richard Reid were going to highjack an airplane and fly it into the White House. Richard Reid is best remembered as the “Shoe Bomber”, a man whose nefarious plot was foiled when he was unable to master the art of lighting a match.

They are probably not bad enough to be declared clinically insane, but I wouldn’t let either one of them outside a prison until we know a great deal more about the human psyche and can determine with certainty that they are not a threat. I think both would love to die in a horrible fashion that involves the death of many others. American street gangs are filled with this personality type, but most outgrow it, or die in the process. I am having a hard time believing either one is capable of masterminding a take-out order.

Andante of Collective Sigh has a picture of her “grandpuppy” and Karen of Peripetia has pictures of her vacation in California.

Take a break. Go. Chill. The mess will still be here tomorrow.

According to CNN Smugglers welcome tighter borders:

Barely 18, Jose belongs to Mexico’s new generation of migrant smugglers — young, savvy and happy to see Uncle Sam further tighten border security.

Why? It’s good for business, he says.

Jose figures more migrants will seek his help if the U.S. Senate approves legislation to double the Border Patrol and put up a virtual wall of unmanned vehicles, cameras and sensors to monitor the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

[Snip]

Victor Clark, a Mexican border expert in Tijuana who has studied smugglers’ patterns for decades, agrees with Jose. “This is going to have the opposite effect of what the U.S. government wants, since the demand for migrant smugglers is going to go up,” he said.

The smuggling business flourished after the U.S. Border Patrol cracked down on the busiest crossings into Texas and California in 1994.

It’s so nice of the Republicans to help out the coyotes. Only a few of them are currently making $1 million a year. Poor Jose only made $16,000 for three months work, as opposed the $53 per day he was making cutting lettuce. This project will certainly increase the income of one segment of the Mexican population.

Anne Zook pointed me to Justin Rood, and I was going to say something nasty about statutory rape being an odd requirement for working at the Department of Homeland Security, but the Pensacola Beach Blogger has already done a fine job covering the “Department of Homeland Perversity”.

The most important things you have to know to understand Katherine Harris is that the football stadium at the University of Florida is named the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and Ben Hill Griffin Jr. was her grandfather.

There is no honor more sacred in the states of the South East Conference than to have your name on the football stadium in your home state university.

Katherine Harris is intelligent and a millionaire in her own right. In addition to her BA from Agnes Scott College, an excellent liberal college for Presbyterian ladies, and MPA in International Trade from the Kennedy School at Harvard, she studied in Switzerland and Spain. She made her own money in real estate, probably about $50 million.

When she decided to go into her grandfather’s favorite hobby, politics, there was no question in her mind that she had the right to win any office she sought in the state.

Her run for Secretary of State in Florida 1998 was nasty and she steamrollered Jeb Bush’s candidate, the incumbent, Sandra Mortham to win the primary. Ms. Mortham was an inoffensive creature, overly fond of parties and tchatchkes, but not terribly fond of accounting.

The Democratic opponent was Karen Gievers, an attorney who did a lot of pro bono work for foster children, was involved in NOW and GWEN [Get Women Elected Now], pushed for tougher traffic safety laws, and opposed tort reform.

Cruella said Ms. Gievers was a liberal lobbyist and implied she was a lesbian. It was as brutal a “shock and awe” campaign as had ever been seen. It was total overkill.

Below the fold: rumors and guesses. [Read more →]

Jane Lampman reviews Karen Armstrong’s book, The Great Transformation which covers the era of the formation of the world’s great religions between 900 and 200 BCE. Sounds like an interesting counterbalance to the depressing reality of Jared Diamond’s Collapse.

It would seem that every few centuries people figure out that violence doesn’t work, but after a while we return to it. When I hear all of the people talking about how we should blow things up to settle a problem, I have to wonder how many of them have been in the path of destruction. Someday they will introduce the smell of war to movies and most people will figure it out: dead bodies, and that’s what we are talking about, don’t smell very nice.

Carla Seaquist makes the point: Free speech should soar above insult and injury.

Yes, you have the right to say anything you want, as long as it’s true. You have the right to express your opinion openly, no matter how unbelievable or divorced from reality. Others also have the right to say you are wrong and should just shut up.

The refusal to repeat things that are hurtful to others isn’t suppression of free speech; it is called manners. If you are going share space with other people you have to learn when not to speak to preserve the peace.

Unfortunately when one side is rude, crude, and unglued it does no good to hold your peace, because they won’t stop.

Kevin Hayden at American Street has a concise quiz on the recent history in the Persian Gulf. If you have personally experienced history since the election of Richard Nixon and were paying attention to current affairs it is rather depressing.

My older instructors at the Defense Language Institute were unhappy when I pointed out that from the standpoint of the average Russian peasant the Soviet era was an improvement over the tsarist era that preceded it. Peasants received education and health care under the Soviets that didn’t exist for them under the tsars. They were oppressed under both systems, so the political changes didn’t really affect them.

It’s a good thing Saddam isn’t getting a jury trial.

The new predictions for this year’s hurricane season are out, and they are not comforting.

The Mid West is experiencing a record number of tornadoes and people are dying. Plants are budding and blooming sooner than ever. We have 100-year floods occurring every 10 years. The fire season has started sooner than ever. The world is in trouble, and the weather patterns are changing.

When do the powers that be figure out that it is time to do something before we run out of options? Will reducing pollution and greenhouse gases cost money? Absolutely. Will it cost as much as the tornadoes, wild fires, floods, droughts, and hurricanes we are currently experiencing? Not bloody likely.

During the coverage of Rice and Straw visiting Iraq the media forgot to mention that 13 US military died over the weekend.

It may not be obvious, but replacing a Secretary of State is actually easier than replacing an experienced infantryman or medic. There are hundreds of people qualified to be Secretary of State and more entering the pool every year. The number of people available to fill that infantry slot is decreasing.

Just so you know, when they report the death of Navy personnel in Iraq, they are almost always medics who serve with the Marines.

Tom Burka has a fun post: Democrats Used to Loss of Power in Capitol.

I have a serious question: why doesn’t the Capitol have an emergency power system? Don’t they think that it’s pretty stupid that an auto accident or thunderstorm could halt the Congress? Does their computer system have battery back-up? Do they have an emergency plan other than panic?

Dave Neiwert has a point to make about those complaining about immigration protesters waving Mexican flags: the Shrubbery did it when he was campaigning for governor of Texas.

I don’t guess you ever see Italian flags on Columbus Day, Irish flags on St. Patrick’s Day, and everyone avoids Mexican flags on Cinco de Mayo.

These were the “American” flags my people saw when they arrived as immigrants:

CNN is reporting that Tom DeLay is dropping his re-election bid after winning the Republican primary for his seat.

If true, I suspect that he is expecting some bad news on the legal front.

Update: It’s apparently true, but plans need to be completed.

The stake has to be oak, but is mistletoe in the tree good or bad? Is an oak struck by lightning more effective?

You soak the oak in a marinade of Holy water, crushed garlic and lemon juice from “cock’s crow” to “cock’s crow” on a day with a full moon, but would adding habañeros be gauche?

So many details to attend to, and so few sources of reliable information.