swimming freestyle

OK, So Now I've Seen Everything

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

"Several thousand flags calling attention to former members of the military who were discharged after the enactment of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy are on display on the Mall in Washington. Retired military officers released a letter Friday calling for the repeal of the policy."

(New York Times)

Getting Tired of This Yet?

Top Ten Highest Paid Actresses (per film):
1. Reese Witherspoon - $15 million-$20 million
2. Angelina Jolie - $15 million-$20 million
3. Cameron Diaz - $15+ million
4. Nicole Kidman - $10 million-$15 million
5. Renee Zellweger - $10 million-$15 million
6. Sandra Bullock - $10 million-$15 million
7. Julia Roberts - $10 million-$15 million
8. Drew Barrymore - $10 million-$12 million
9. Jodie Foster - $10 million-$12 million
10. Halle Berry - $10 million

Thanks Mike

Huh?

Associated Press is reporting:

"The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The plan calls outright elimination of programs for port security, transit security, and local emergency management operations in the next budget year. This is President Bush’s last budget, and the new administration would have to live with the funding decisions between Jan. 20 and Sept. 30, 2009."

Someone will need to explain to me how, on the one hand, the Bush Administration can claim we all need to be scared shitless of an impending terrorist attack while, at the same time, cutting the funding that would either prevent or, at least, address the aftermath of such an attack.

Hmmm, this is perplexing.  You don't suppose they have oversold the threat?

New Iowa Poll

American Research Group is out with a new poll of the Democratic Presidential caucus in Iowa:

                     

Iowa
Likely Democratic Caucus Goers	Nov 10-14	Nov 26-29
Biden	5%	8%
Clinton	27%	25%
Dodd	3%	3%
Edwards	20%	23%
Gravel	-	-
Kucinich	2%	2%
Obama	21%	27%
Richardson	12%	4%
Undecided	10%	8%

A couple comments:

     - Margin of error is 4% so for everyone but Richardson no statistical meaningful change.  But the poll shows Richardson has tanked.

     - As noted previously, caucus rules dictate the second choice candidate is chosen if the primary choice candidate gathers less than 15%.  Key to Iowa may rest on the second choices of caucus goers favoring Biden, Dodd, Kucinich and Richardson.  I would expect the Clinton, Edwards and Obama campaigns are working those folks hard.

Hope For More Than Lecondel

Fred Kaplan has a great piece in Slate today, outlining a tragically missed opportunity the U.S. had last summer to jump start the Israeli/Palestinian peace talks.

Kaplan argues the White House blew a prime opportunity in July, 2006 when Hezbollah abducted an Israeli soldier, touching off the two week war between Israel and Shite Hezbollah forces in Southern Lebanon.  At the onset of the aggression by Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia released a public statement condemning Hezbollah for committing "unexpected, inappropriate, and irresponsible acts". 

"This was an astonishing event. The official stance of most of these (Middle Eastern) states was that Israel had no right to exist; yet here they were, upholding Israel's right to coexist in peace and to defend itself from attack."

President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice were strongly encouraged by members of the National Security Counsel and Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair to strike while the iron was hot; take the opportunity, with personal engagement, to bring the Middle East together as a single entity and use that consensus as momentum towards new negotiations. 

The President never did become directly involved, arguing he wasn't the kind of President who engages in shuttle diplomacy, and Secretary of State Rice waited a week before visiting the area.  By that time, Israel was bombing the crap out of southern Lebanon, displacing and killing civilians in the process and turning Arab sentiment against the Israelis.  Rice was shunned by Arab leaders during the visit.  The opportunity was kaput.

"(By the way, this may have been the genesis of a new Israeli verb, lecondel—in Hebrew, "to Condel," short for "to Condoleezza"—meaning, as the New York Times' Steven Erlanger has explained, to come and go for meetings that produce few results.)"

President Bush reportedly spent about three hours engaged in discussions and photo opportunities during the Annapolis meetings.  Kaplan reports Rice is already backing away and is naming retired Marine General Jim Jones as the Middle East envoy to assume the negotiating role.  Doesn't sound like any Bush or Rice legacies will be built on these meager efforts.

Call it "virtual" foreign policy.

Underfunded American Education

"WASHINGTON—Faced with ongoing budget crises, underfunded schools nationwide are increasingly left with no option but to cut the past tense—a grammatical construction traditionally used to relate all actions, and states that have transpired at an earlier point in time—from their standard English and language arts programs.

A part of American school curricula for more than 200 years, the past tense was deemed by school administrators to be too expensive to keep in primary and secondary education.

"Our tax dollars should be spent preparing our children for the future, not for what has already happened," Hatch said at a recent press conference. "It's about time we stopped wasting everyone's time with who 'did' what or 'went' where. The past tense is, by definition, outdated."

Said Hatch, "I can't even remember the last time I had to use it."

Regardless of the recent upheaval, students throughout the country are learning to accept, and even embrace, the change to their curriculum.

"At first I think the decision to drop the past tense from class is ridiculous, and I feel very upset by it," said David Keller, a seventh-grade student at Hampstead School in Fort Meyers, FL. "But now, it's almost like it never happens."

(The Onion  11/30/07)

Amazon's Best Books of 2007

1.  "A Thousand Splendid Suns"  Khaled Hosseini
2.  "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"  Junot Diaz
3.  "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"  J.K. Rowling
4.  "The World Without Us"  Alan Weisman
5.  "The Dangerous Book for Boys"  Conn Iggulden
6.  "Heartsick"  Chelsea Cain
7.  "Tree of Smoke"  Denis Johnson
8.  "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier"  Ishmael Beah
9.  "Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance"  Atul Gawande
10. "I Am America (And So Can You!)  Stephen Colbert

McCain Slaps Down Romney

In my mind, the single very brief highlight in last nights CNN/YouTube Republican Presidential debate.  Romney's answer was cowardly and simply echoed the Bush Administrations "we don't torture and don't discuss our techniques" song and dance.

I suspect Romney thought he was playing it safe, and stupidly didn't consider that McCain would challenge him so passionately.  At the end of the exchange, Romney looked foolish and beaten. 

McCain deserves high credit for taking a principled, though sadly unpopular, position on a moral issue the rest of his party has conveniently chosen to ignore. 

Another Top Ten

Amazon's Top Ten Best Music:

1.  "The Reminder"  Feist
2.  "Sound of Silver"  LCD Soundsystem
3.  "Graduation"  Kanye West
4.  "In Rainbows"  Radiohead
5.  "Back to Black"  Amy Winehouse
6.  "Neon Bible"  Arcade Fire
7.  "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"  Spoon
8.  "New Moon"  Elliot Smith
9.  "Wincing the Night Away"  The Shins
10. "Raising Sand"  Robert Plant and Alison Krauss"

Thanks Nancy