Saturday, December 30, 2006

Politics

I agree with Talking Points Memo on the whole Saddam thing. It appears that we've managed to create a martyr:
"The president, the leader Saddam Hussein is a martyr and God will put him along with other martyrs. Do not be sad nor complain because he has died the death of a holy warrior," said Sheik Yahya al-Attawi, a cleric at the Saddam Big Mosque.

Police blocked the entrances to Tikrit and said nobody was allowed to leave or enter the city for four days. Despite the security precaution, gunmen took to the streets of Tikrit, carrying pictures of Saddam, shooting into the air, and calling for vengeance.
As if Bush hadn't messed up the whole "war on terror" thing enough, now he's just managed to make it a little bit worse. Heckuva job, Shrubya.

But enough from me, how about some Iraqi reactions: A round-up at Asterism, A star from Mosul, and Baghdad Burning.


Moving on to other stupid things, man arrested because of his own and his son's allergies. I'm opposed to wanton drug use, but the drug war is insane and useless and is killing far more people than it is saving. And if you can't even get needed medicine without risking arrest, there is something really wrong.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Censored

The NY Times was censored by the Bush Administration, despite the article in question not containing any sensitive material. Here's the op-ed piece, complete with blacked out lines. May require login.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Canadian Women Challenge Olympic Ski Jumping Ban

Canadian Women Ski Jumpers are really peeved at the IOC and the international ski jumping officials who have decided that women can't compete in the sport in the 2010 Olympics.

Even worse is one of the reasons given for the exclusion: "it's medically unfit for women to be ski jumpers, which is a great one that didn't go over well with everyone, that it's just too dangerous for women — even though you have women aerials, women skeleton, luge, bobsled."

Yeah, um. Hello? That attitude went out years ago. Give women the chance to compete in the Olympic games. There is no good reason to exclude women ski jumpers from competition.

Utah Gets Smart

Brad Blog reports that election officials in Utah are finally seeing the light of just how bad voting machines are... but only because they are seeing how much more the machines cost for storage, back-up batteries, and training of workers. Hit 'em in the pocketbook and they finally listen?

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Storm Damage

We got a nice big storm through Seattle, and a tree fell on our car and blocked our driveway. Luckily, the damage was minimal. For pictures, see Bloggity.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Couple of Links

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Mallard Fillmore strip actually slightly funny due to related events.

America's health care system is screwed up beyond belief.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Christmas Trees At Sea-Tac

If you haven't heard the news... a rabbi threatened to sue the Sea-Tac airport if they didn't add a menorah to the holiday decorations at the airport. He didn't just say, "could you please add a menorah?", no, he threatened a lawsuit. The airport, understandably concerned, reacted by removing all holiday decorations... more than a dozen plastic trees with lights and ribbons. They did so because 1) they didn't have the staff or time to add a menorah and whatever else anybody requested this year and 2) the rabbi THREATENED TO SUE THEM.

This caused a sensation. People blamed liberal Seattle. People claimed the airport officials overreacted. The lawsuit-happy rabbi and his lawsuit happy attorney said, "no, no, this isn't what we wanted!" Well, no kidding. But what do you expect when you use a sledgehammer when a thumbtack would do?

In my view, the Port Authority took the right action with the information they had. The rabbi was at fault for waiting until the last minute to make his request, then threatening the airport. You can't expect a massive bureaucracy to move with such agility, nor can you expect them to not take the easiest action when threatened.

At least the story has a happy ending. The rabbi went back, explained himself better without threats, and the Port Authority put the trees back up. Next year's holiday display at Sea-Tac will attempt to reflect the cultures of all people who live in the area. Which is what should've happened, quietly and behind the scenes, in the first place. But you just can't expect a reasonable response if you start with an unreasonable attack ("do this or I sue!").

Monday, December 04, 2006

Making Light

Teresa explains why she blogs. Very good information on the corporate-owned media.