Shots Across the Bow

2003-03-26T11:30:00.000-05:00

new entry to test comments

2002-10-31T21:47:00.000-05:00

Final Entry in this location

Folks, the new domain is active, the carpet is laid, the furniture has arrived, and I'm moving to my new home. I'm leaving Blogspot, AKA the AOL of the blogosphere, taken off my training wheels, and venturing out into the real, well, more real than blogspot, world. I sent out e-mails to those of you who I've corresponded with in the past, giving the new URL, and my new email address. For the rest of you, here is the info:

New URL www.shotsacrossthebow.com/weblog
link Shots Across the Bow
email rhailey-at-shotsacrossthebow.com

Hope to see you at my new digs.
[edit]

2002-10-21T11:17:00.000-04:00

Final Entry in this location

Folks, the new domain is active, the carpet is laid, the furniture has arrived, and I'm moving to my new home. I'm leaving Blogspot, AKA the AOL of the blogosphere, taken off my training wheels, and venturing out into the real, well, more real than blogspot, world. I sent out e-mails to those of you who I've corresponded with in the past, giving the new URL, and my new email address. For the rest of you, here is the info:

New URL www.shotsacrossthebow.com/weblog
link Shots Across the Bow
email rhailey-at-shotsacrossthebow.com

Hope to see you at my new digs.

2002-10-21T00:50:00.000-04:00

It's a dangerous job, even when they aren't shooting at you!

A sailor took a 7 hour swim when he was swept off the flight deck of the USS Constellation by the exhaust of an EA-6B jet.
Life on a carrier is full of risks, particularly when you work on the flight deck. While I was stationed on the Nimitz we had a guy go overboard under similar circumstances. He was a new pilot, and was about to make his first night launch from the flight deck.

Since there is limited room on the flight deck, the planes parked there are often parked with their tails sticking out over the edge. As the pilot was doing his preflight walk around with his plane captain, an enlisted man who "owned" the plane, he came to some safety netting covering a what he thought was a weapons elevator shaft. During earlier daytime flights, he had seen other pilots and plane captains hop over the netting, so he decided to emulate them, and hopped over the netting.

Sadly for him, what he jumped over was the last thing between him and a 65 foot free fall into some very cold, dark water. WE sounded a man overboard, and he was recovered in less than an hour. The only thing hurt was his pride.

2002-10-21T00:37:00.000-04:00

A Fair Settlement
The US Navy has reached agreement with most of those involved in the collison betwen a japanese fishing boat and a surfacing submarine.

The U.S. Navy will pay about $13 million in compensation to the victims of a collision between one of its nuclear submarines and a Japanese fishing boat, Kyodo news agency said Saturday.

Nine people, mostly teenage trainee fishermen, were killed when the Ehime Maru was rammed by the surfacing submarine off the coast of Hawaii on February 9 last year.

It bothers me that they took a year to come up with this settlement. I wonder how much the lawyers are going to get, and how much will actually get to the victims.

2002-10-21T00:24:00.000-04:00

Paging Mr Orwell, Mr. George Orwell
Somebody get this guy a blanket. He missed his nap and is getting a little cranky.

For the last 21 months, we have tried very hard to keep this discussion board open to all left-wing points of view. It was one of our guiding principles, because we believed deeply that talking is better than not talking.

Gee, that's mighty big of you! You have complete freedom to post whatever you wish, as long as it is follows the party line.

But now we have come to the conclusion that the current state of affairs is untenable.

I should think so! Total freedom of speech would be anarchy! Not only should you be on the left, but you have to be on the correct part of the left. NO extremists allowed.

There is a small but outspoken group of liberals who simply are not our friends. Please be aware that I am not singling out Greens, most of whom are capable of participating on this message board in a productive and thought-provoking way. Rather, I am referring to people who are consumed with hatred and contempt for any and all liberals who don't share their exact point of view.

A little self referential, isn't it?

In case you haven't heard, there is a very important election occurring in less than three weeks. The stakes in this election are as high as they have ever been. You are being given a clear choice: Hand over complete control of all three branches of government to the forces of evil - or don't.

Nothing extremist here! Anybody who isn't of the left is evil. There is no hope of common ground, or compromise. It's a good thing Mr Skinner isn't given to hyperbole, or exaggeration...

As the administrator of this message board, I have the opportunity to have an impact on the outcome of this election. As an American, I have a moral obligation to do what I can to stop the conservative juggernaut.

Talk about a bloated sense of self importance!

We still allow all points of view, but we have our limits.

Paging Mr. Orwell, Mr George Orwell....

Whenever you find it necessary to restrict the free exchange of ideas and information, you have conceded that your arguments cannot survive without draconian measures. If you must stifle dissent through censorship, you're already over. Have the good grace to withdraw from the scene, and let somebody else take over. The best part of this whole thing is that he is crying about dissent from within the left itself.

2002-10-18T11:17:00.000-04:00

Hot diggity dog! I finally got my files transferred to the new host, and formatted so MT would take them. The move is almost complete. Once I get the domain name registered, I'll finish the move, and stop posting here. I'll let everybody know when that happens. For now, click here to go to the new place.

2002-10-18T01:42:00.000-04:00

That's what I said!
Yesterday, I posted on the North Korean admission that they had a nuclear weapons program. I proposed that the reason they admitted it was that they had already achieved success. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so:

It was not clear to U.S. officials whether the North actually has a nuclear capability or whether it is still in development. At a minimum, North Korea apparently is close to joining the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France, India and Pakistan as declared nuclear powers. Israel is thought to have hundreds of nuclear warheads but has never confirmed it has a nuclear weapons program.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld told a Pentagon press conference that he believes the North Koreans not only have a weapons program but have already produced some weapons.

He cited an intelligence report in which the CIA said North Koreans "may have one or two," and added, "I believe they have a small number of nuclear weapons."

And what are we going to do?

Talk.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said North Korea must allow international inspections of their nuclear facilities and must agree to destroy whatever weapons of mass destruction they have.

"Pyongyang's reckless brinkmanship must be met with firm and united resolve by the allies of freedom and democracy," said Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee.

Folks, I don't want to rain on anybodies parade here, but if they built the bomb while we told them not to, they aren't going to destroy it just because we, or the Chinese, tell them to. Catch a clue, congressman.

2002-10-18T01:33:00.000-04:00

Did he really say that?
According to this story in the Independent, Philip Roth doesn't like how America has reacted to 9-11. Here are some of his reactions:

To me, New York had become interesting again, because it had once again become a city in crisis, particularly in the weeks that followed, with everybody waiting for the next explosion.
It was a strange time and the first time that New York interested me again since I left the city to go and live in Connecticut in 1993. And I thought, well, this is great, I'll stay, and I did.
It's almost embarrassing, the kitschification of 3,000 people's deaths. Other cities have experienced far worse catastrophes.
One wouldn't dream of slighting these people, it is awful, but we need to keep a sense of proportion about these things. What we've been witnessing since September 11 is an orgy of national narcissism and a gratuitous sense of victimisation that is repellent.

Enough already. Philip Roth finds New York boring, unless it is a city in crisis? It takes the wholesale slaughter of 300 people, and financial losses in the billions to make New York interesting? Talk about your ivory tower! Mr. Roth, I hope east Tennessee never becomes "interesting" to you. You know what's really sad? The fact that a man renowned for his abilities with the English language, famous for his insight into the American character, could be blind enough to say these things. Stick to writing, Philip, cause off the cuff, you're just embarrassing...

2002-10-17T22:29:00.000-04:00

Horsewhipping sounds about right to me
Can you believe this jerk?

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - A witness who says he saw the Washington-area sniper fire with an assault rifle and flee in a cream-colored van gave a phony story, investigators said Thursday in a setback that casts doubt on much of what the public thought it knew about the roving killer.
Prosecutors are investigating the witness, whose name wasn't released, to determine whether he should be charged with filing a false statement.
Fairfax County police Lt. Amy Lubas said the inaccurate account didn't match that of other witnesses to Monday night's killing of an FBI (news - web sites) cyberterrorism analyst in a crowded Virginia parking lot outside a Home Depot. It was the only shooting so far that people actually saw.
Asked if the witness intentionally misled investigators with his description of a cream-colored van and a burned-out rear taillight, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, who is heading the investigation, said simply, "Yes."

I don't know this guy's name, or why he would choose to lie about this, and I don't really care. People are living in fear, and this idiot has the balls to make things worse, as a prank!

I was wrong; horsewhipping is too good for him.

UPDATE:

I wrote last night that the change in methdology of the sniper indicated a lack of professionalism, which tended to argue against his being militarily trained. Now, that is out the window, since the report of the witness has been discredited. It now appears that the sniper held true to form, and fired from a distance of over 100 yards.

2002-10-17T06:48:00.000-04:00

Geting there! It ain't pretty, and I'm having trouble getting my blogger entries imported, but the new home for Shots Across the bow is up and running. I don't have the domain name registered yet, so for now, you'll have to use this addy:
http://64.21.37.2/~rhailey/weblog

I expect the domain name will be active in about a week, and then the addy will be
http://www.shotsacrossthebow.com/weblog

I'll keep posting here until I get everything in order over there.

2002-10-17T01:15:00.000-04:00

First Bigfoot, now Big Bird? Anchorage, Alaska is being visited by a bird the size of a small airplane.

A giant winged creature, like something out of Jurassic Park, has reportedly been sighted several times in Southwest Alaska in recent weeks.

Villagers in Togiak and Manokotak say they have seen a huge bird that's much bigger than anything they have seen before.

A pilot says he spotted the creature while flying passengers to Manokotak last week. He calculated that its wingspan matched the length of a wing on his Cessna 207. That's about 14 feet.

Other people have put the wingspan in a similar range.

reminds me of the Mothman...

2002-10-17T00:50:00.000-04:00

Sniper not a pro
I'm not an expert, but I don't think the DC sniper is a professional, i.e. somebody with extensive training and/or experience. Some of his actions just don't jibe:
He approached within 40 feet of his last target, risking needless exposure. The area is highly populated, making concealment difficult at best. Since he chooses his targets at random, the sniper could easily have picked another target at a more remote location, one where his chances of being seen would be reduced significantly.
If the tarot card was left by the sniper, it would be out of character for a professional, who would maintain his anonymity. He seems to be leading with his ego now, almost daring the police to catch him.

2002-10-17T00:26:00.000-04:00

'Axis of evil' validated!
President Bush took a lot of heat for identifying three nations as comprising an "axis of evil," hearkening back to WWII. His critics said he was overstating his case, that there was no call to lump Iran and North Korea in with Iraq. Indeed, some said that even Iraq did not deserve the designation.

Today, those critics just took a sucker punch to the gut, as North Korea admitted to carrying out a nuclear weapons research program in direct violation of the 1994 agreement.

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a startling revelation, North Korea (news - web sites) has told the United States it has a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of an 1994 agreement with the United States, the White House said Wednesday night.
Spokesman Sean McCormack called the North Korean disclosure a serious infringement of the agreement, under which Pyongyang promised not to develop nuclear weapons.
U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said North Korea told U.S. officials that it was no longer bound by the anti-nuclear agreement.

Chalk one up for the President. Now, what are we going to do about it?

Talk.

McCormack said the United States is consulting with it allies, South Korea (news - web sites) and Japan, and with members of Congress on next steps.

"We seek a peaceful resolution of this situation," McCormack said. "Everyone in the region has a stake in this issue and no peaceful nation wants to see a nuclear-armed North Korea."

"The United States and our allies call on North Korea to comply with its commitments under the nonproliferation treaty and to eliminate its nuclear weapons program in a verifiable manner."

That'll teach 'em!

Here's the scary part:

Until now, the United States' main concern with North Korea has been its sale of ballistic missiles to Syria, Iran and other countries. Now North Korea's nuclear program is added to the mix.

The United States has been suspicious about North Korea's nuclear intentions for some time despite the agreement.

A CIA report in January said that during the second half of last year, North Korea "continued its attempts to procure technology worldwide that could have applications in its nuclear program.F

"We assess that North Korea has produced enough plutonium for at least one, and possibly two, nuclear weapons."

Ballistic missiles and enough Pu for 1 or 2 bombs. If you have the Pu, and you have the delivery vehicle, what's left ain't rocket science folks. N Korea will have a nuclear missile within the year, if they don't already. Something to consider: Why would they admit to a research program, unless they had alredy completed the research?

2002-10-16T18:06:00.000-04:00

If you're on my site now, you'll see some drastic changes. Don't worry, I'm just exporting my files for MT

2002-10-16T01:36:00.000-04:00

Oh happy day! I have my new page working, and am getting Movable Type installed. I actually have it responding right now. The next step will be to move my archives over there, and set up a template. Things are progressing nicely.

2002-10-15T10:28:00.000-04:00

A different perspective
A friend of mine at work brought up an interesting point about the Beltway sniper. While his method of execution leads us to think he must have some military or paramilitary background, we have to remember that any hunter worth his salt with a decent rifle and scope could make the shots the sniper has been making.

2002-10-15T06:43:00.000-04:00

I may not know much about art but this makes me glad I don't! From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Damien Hirst, one of Britain's most celebrated artists, told the BBC last month that the Sept. 11 attacks were "visually stunning" artworks and that the perpetrators "need congratulating." He's sorry for that now.

"You've got to hand it to them on some level," he originally said of the murderers, "because they've achieved something which nobody would have thought possible."

This from a guy who's chief claim to fame is slicing up animals and putting them on display.

Next we hear from Gail Haffern of New Zealand:

Meanwhile, as Hirst was slapping al Qaeda on its collective back, a New Zealand artist named Gail Haffern was telling the Auckland art press that the destruction of the World Trade Center while filled with people was "wonderful .

. . because it was a new idea."

Haffern's only notable achievement is that she holds New Zealand's first- ever doctorate in fine arts. "Being an artist," she says of her reaction to the attacks, "I thought what if this had been a performance piece and Osama bin Laden had declared himself an artist, how would the world have seen it then?" Her answer is a sculptural installation involving representations of the trade towers, surrounded by blocks featuring such "wordplay" as "Pentagone. "

I can't wait to see what she does with the Bali bombing....

Finally we hear from Karlheinz Stockhausen, noted composer:

Stockhausen was speaking to journalists in Hamburg, Germany, a few days after the attacks, and called the destruction "the greatest work of art ever." Stockhausen immediately asked the interviewers not to report what he had said.

The piece further quotes him:

That characters can bring about in one act what we in music cannot dream of, that people practice madly for 10 years, completely fanatically, for a concert and then die. That is the greatest work of art for the whole cosmos."

I'm speechless...

2002-10-15T06:33:00.000-04:00

I've been slumming over at WarbloggerWatch and I ran across the most amusing piece by Philip Shropshire. In it, he challenges warbloggers to send him on an all expense paid trip to Iraq. This is apparently an extension of the tired "chickenhawk" argument, where the extreme left criticizes anybody who supports a war against Iraq if they aren't currently enlisted in the armed forces. He "proves" his own validity by volunteering to go to Iraq, buth then insists on so many restrictions and provision to ensure that nobody takes him seriously. The whole exchange reminds me of Usenet flamewars, where one idiot threatens another idiot with an ass whipping, even though they may be separated by 1000 miles. Easy to brag when you know the chances are good you won't get called on to put up or shut up.

The hilarity really gets going with this bit:

It takes a certain amount of wealth to be a rebel. The upper middle class people who threw their planes into buildings didn’t think like Americans. True, they had wealth and privilege but they didn’t think of themselves as rich because, unlike Americans—the bestest greatest keenest group of folks in the world who wouldn’t dream of killing 1 or 2 million peasants in Guatemala or East Timor—they probably thought I’m not rich unless my people are rich.

Yep, the Sauds are known throughout the world for their generousity. The Royal Family is dedicated to ensuring that their vast wealth is distributed equitably among their people. Of course, the gap between the rich and poor in Saudi Arabia is approximately 100 times the gap in the US, but who's counting? Besides, it's the US's fault that the gap is so wide; after all, we keep insisting on giving the Saudi princes more oil money. The princes just can't give it away fast enough. So, in a remarkable generous move, they spend it all on cars, and palaces, and limos, and trips, distributing that wealth the best way they can. Sadly, most of what they purchase comes from outside the country, so the peasants really don't feel the benefit of this income redistribution, but I'm sure they appreciate the gesture. What wonderful people these wealthy rebels are!

Not content with this howler, Philip continues:

Let's assume for a moment that our country is run by oilman and let us assume that maybe they've concluded that the biggest threat to their Crack-like oil supply is not the Arab countries, but a country that has over 400 nuclear weapons. Now, Sharon has said that he'll retaliate if Saddam attacks Israel with germ warfare. I'm making the assumption that Sharon means nuclear weapons. But what if the US doesn't let him? What if they decide to attack Israel preemptively in order to protect the oil supply?

So Philip finds it conceivable that the US would launch a pre-emptive strike against Israel, to prevent them from launching a counter strike against Iraq, which would attack Israel in response to a pre-emptive strike from the US. I haven't laughed that hard since the first time I heard Abbott and Costello perform "Who's on First?"

Philip continues with this bit of fluff:

I just don't think that force creates longterm peace or stability...

Define "long term peace and stability," Philip, then tell us how disputes may be settled without the application of force.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Force, or the threat of force is the ultimate arbiter of all disputes. It ranges from a parent withholding privileges from a naughty child all the way to full scale war. Even diplomacy is the application of force, albeit implicitly rather than directly.

Peace is not the natural state of man, as any student of human history, or biology for that matter, can tell you. Coexistence involves a balance of power, and that balance is constantly shifting. Every group seeks an advantage, utilizing all available resources to get ahead. Groups which do not do so quickly fall behind, and die out. This is a natural consequence of the evolutionary process, and man is the ultimate result (so far) of this process. To expect the species to abandon the strategy which has proven so successful is like a child wishing for the moon. It ain't gonna happen. And if by some strange chance it does happen, then it will be another species' time to go for the gold. ( My bet would be on dogs. They aren't all that smart, but their evolutionary path has mimicked that of man. No other species of animal has adapted to such a wide range of environments while maintain species integrity.) What pacifists call peace is a temporary condition when all interacting forces are at equilibrium, and the system is at rest. This is also known as stagnation. Not a good thing, evolutioanally speaking. Fortunately, the real definition of peace has more in common with Ambrose Bierce's definition:

In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.

In other words, the game continues, we just put our guns under the table for awhile. However, all diplomacy is bolstered b those guns, even when they are under the table. Come to the game unarmed, and you are guaranteed to walk out a loser.

Philip finishes up with a little gratuitous name calling, but we'll let that slide.

2002-10-15T03:41:00.000-04:00

You heard it here first!
I said here that the Washington sniper was a terrorist. Now it looks like the experts agree:

The recent sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C., area are probably terrorist attacks rather than the work of a traditional "spree killer," according to a local psychologist who specializes in violent behavior.

Dr. Helen Smith, a forensic psychologist and author of the book "The Scarred Heart," earned her doctorate from the University of Tennessee in 1994. She often is called to testify as an expert witness in Juvenile Court proceedings; in "The Scarred Heart," she dedicated a chapter to the 1997 Lillelid murder case in Greene County, and she is currently making a documentary on the slayings.

"This is most likely a terrorist act, that's my take on it," Smith said of the D.C.-area shootings, which began Oct. 2 and have claimed the lives of eight people so far. "It's not typical, it just doesn't really meet any of the profiles we look at."

She goes on:

According to Smith, the real target of the sniper or snipers in the Washington area is the larger community rather than individuals.

"The anger's not toward the victims, it's toward the community," she said. "People use guns because you can step back, make it impersonal. They're probably not even seeing these people as actual people, but as things or objects used to further their goal, whatever their goal is."

My thoughts exactly.

2002-10-13T00:02:00.000-04:00

The move
OK, the first steps are underway. I have a new host, a domain name, and I've downloaded an FTP client. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to get all the parts working together. AS soon as the new site is running, I'll post a link to it here.

2002-10-12T23:59:00.000-04:00

The Good, the Bad, and the UGA
Well, the game is over, and I wish I was eating crow right now, but it was not to be.

The Good
James Banks--Give this young man the ball. Send Clausen home to momma, cause James is money in the bank. He's quick, fast, and can throw the ball. He performed better as a true freshman than Clausen has in his entire career.

Tennessee stuffed the run all afternoon. The defensive line and linebackers never allowed Ga to get their rushing game going.

Cory Larkins showed passion, and some nifty moves on punt and kickoff returns.

Tennessee's rushing game finally seemed to get a spark, despite the mediocre performance of the offensive line.

The Bad

The offensive line couldn't open a hole, unless it was to allow a blitzing linebacker in to harass our quarterback, or a stunting defensive end to block a punt. The failure of this unit to live up to their potential is one of the most glaring problems with this team. Granted, they were handicapped by Randy Sanders and his completely predictable offensive scheme.

The secondary couldn't cover me. 'nuff said.

The Ugly

Everybody in the stadium knew the Vols were going to run. Unfortunately, that included the Dawg defense, who played all afternoon with 7-8 players in the box. They dared the Vols to throw the ball, and Sanders failed to respond. I don't accept the excuse of Clausen's injury for two reasons. First, on the few passes they did try, Leak and Banks were on target for the most part. They certainly performed as well as Clausen has. Second, a coaching staff must be prepared for an injury to key personnel. Tennessee's staf failed to do so. Fulmer pinned the hopes of the entire team on one man's shoulders. Obviously, they couldn't carry the load.

The officiating. It seems strange to me that every team the Vols play is almost flawless as far as penalties go(Scroll down). Tennessee's opponents have been penalized 20 times for an average of under 35 yards per game. That's the least in the SEC by a long shot. LSU's opponents are next on the list with 33 penalties over 5 games for an average of 52 yards per game. That's a significant jump.

The secondary. Yeah, I know I listed them under the bad, but they were really bad.

2002-10-11T08:16:00.000-04:00

You want a lottery? Sure! Why not?

Joe Sullivan tries to tell us why not in the Metro Pulse. Joe writes an article with the thesis that pouring 300 million dollars per year into higher education, funded through a totally voluntary contribution, is a bad thing. He tries really hard, but is doomed to failure by the ridiculous nature of his premise.
The mental gymnastics required to prove such a strange idea lead him into some incredible contortions of logic. Here's one example:

Beyond that, retaining better students has helped in raising admission standards at the University of Georgia to the point where SAT scores of enrollees now average 1210, up from 1161 in 1993. And improving the quality of its student body contributes to improving the quality of a university.

But in Tennessee:

A leading lottery proponent, Sen. Steve Cohen, suggests that any pinch resulting from heightened demand for higher ed can be dealt with by making enrollment more selective. But this is an unacceptable answer. Some form of higher ed should be accessible to anyone who is prepared for it.

So raising the standards is good if you're Georgia, but bad if you're Tennessee? Nice try Joe. But wait, there's more! Joe goes on to say:

While UT would welcome making its student body more select, and other four-year universities might follow its lead in capping their enrollments, that only pushes the added demand down into the community colleges (where poorer qualified students probably belong).

So now he agrees with raising standards. I'm getting whiplash here! First it's good, then bad, then grudgingly good again.

As a brief aside, I think anybody who has to take any basic skills courses is by definition unready for college, and should not be admitted to a four year university. At UT, like most state universities, that equals roughly half the student body. Pathetic.

So why is Joe flopping around like a fish on a hook? The answer is in his opening paragraph.

If you can get past the fact that a lottery is a rip-off that mainly exploits poor people, then you can get to the question of whether lottery revenues can benefit the state sufficiently for the end to justify the means.

Let's deconstruct this little beauty, shall we?

"Rip-off." implies that the Lottery would not deliver what it promises to those who play. Obviously, this is incorrect. The odds of winning are published; the jackpot is calculated based on the level of play, and is also published. Every prize claimed is paid. It isn't a rip-off. Sure, you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than hitting the jackpot, but that doesn't make it a rip-off, just a poor investment. You don't play the lottery to fund your retirement; you play it for the dream.
"Mainly exploits poor people." Nope, mainly exploits greed and laziness. We all want something for nothing. We all want to get the better end of the bargain. A lottery uses that universal desire to draw people into it's game. Somebody who really wants to get ahead may drop a dollar or two on the lottery for fun, but will concentrate his investment in time and effort in areas that have a much greater chance of success. Only the lazy would depend on the lottery to solve all their problems.
So the poor play the lottery with greater frequency that those who are comfortable. Are they coerced into doing so? Nope. Nobody forces them to play, so how are they exploited? Mr. Sullivan is demonstrating a subtle form of elitism here that is endemic on the left. He is reducing the autonomy of the poor folks by refusing to allow them to make their own decisions, and live with the consequences of those decisions. In effect, he is declaring them to be incapable of managing their own funds.
"Whether lottery revenues can benefit the state sufficiently for the end to justify the means." In effect, the lottery is a mean horrible nasty business, but if it pays well enough, maybe it will be worth it. 'nuff said.

Now, his final paragraph:

For the most part, though, the proposed state lottery looks to me like a way to get mostly poor people to pay for the college education's of families that are mostly better off. Voters should reject such an insidious income transfer system.

Once again, the lottery is voluntary. Nobody has to play.

2002-10-11T04:09:00.000-04:00

Pop Quiz

When is a terrorist not a terrorist?

A. When he is a freedom fighter.
B. When you agree with his cause.
C. When labeling him as a terrorist would cause widespread fear and panic.
D. When his motives are unknown.
E. All of the above.

The whack job running around Maryland and Virginia shooting innocent people for reasons unknown is a terrorist, pure and simple, no different than Timothy McVeigh, or the dogs that crashed into the WTC. While his (or her) affiliation is yet to be determined, the sniper's activities does not fit the typical profile of a serial killer, or a mass murderer. These aren't rage killings, carried out sporadically in the heat of passion, nor is it a single orgy of violence, spending itself in a furythat ends with the destruction of the killer, nor is it the planned, almost ritualized actions of the serial killer. These are the actions of a rational individual, planned to maximize the fear, while allowing the killer to continuekilling for as long as possible. He will continue to kill until he is himself gunned down, which won't happen anytime soon, given the random nature of his actions. There are some reports that there are two individuals involved, acting in tandem, which suggests a professional sniper team. So, we have a team of professionals acting to maximize fear and confusion by the random slaughter of innocent people. Sure sounds like terrorism to me. This is a suicide bomber, streamlined and upgraded for American consumption.

So, what can we expect over the next few days? I can think of two possibilities. The team continues to kill until they are caught, or they kill for a little while longer, then quit for awhile, to let the tension build. Once people start to relax, they go back into action, or another team begins in a different region. That's probably my worst fear. Even if these guys are not affiliated with a major terrorist group, even if they are just a couple of crazies, they are providing a detailed blueprint to the real terrorists on how to strike at American targets without reprisals.

2002-10-11T01:41:00.000-04:00

Enough is enough! I'm outta here!

No, I'm not quitting the blog, but I am packing up for better digs. This template error thing is driving me nuts. That, combined with the trouble I'm having getting my homepage set up as an image server has convinced me that the old saying is true: you get what you pay for.

Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to be moving to a new hosting service, and changing from Blogger to Movable Type. Yep, it's time to take off the trainig wheels! I will still be posting here for a while, as I get the new site set up, and I'll let you all know before I make the change.

Here's the part where you can get involved. Tell me what you like and don't like about this site, anything from content to presentation. What features should I add? Since I'm doing a major overhaul, now is the time. All suggestions are welcome. The only restriction is that I won't do nudity unless it's integral to the plot, and then only if it's tastefully done. Or if I'm offered a lot of money.