Month: January 2004

This has always struck me as one of the biggest con jobs that the media has passed on:

He [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon] later accepted the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan, with significant reservations. The plan calls for an end to violence, a settlement freeze and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005. [Italics mine]

His reservations has always indicated that there are conditions he has no intentions of complying with, indicating that he in truth doesn’t accept the plan. Why the media is so content to push this myth of acceptance is beyond me.

Speaking of Con jobs, here’s one on Continental’s new LCC.

Whomever controls the message controls the discourse and brings their ideas to fulfillment. This idea is central the the way modern politics operate.

One of my favorite examples of this is the needless elimination of the estate tax. Conservative groups, labeling it the “death tax”, appealed to a large component of the population over a number of years, eventually winning support for the idea and having it included in a tax package. What I found downright odd about the situation is that the tax only applies to about the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans, who have estates values at greater than $670,000. Further still is the loss in tax revenue is offset by increased costs through higher taxes, less services, and more debt for the other 99% of the population.

It is the very lack of message that leaves me unwilling to support the Democrats at the moment. None of them can consistently articulate a message that is not overspun, repealed or denied. None of them strike me as being able to convince the general electorate of their honesty. These issues cost them the general election in 2000 and the mid-term elections in 2002, and at the moment I see the same trend repeating itself. Dean and Kerry both strike me as particularly vulnerable to this point, with Dean likely to be ripped by the Republican machine in the months leading up to the general election, as his message control is dubious at best. Clark is an unknown, though, and may offer a decent chance depending on how the primaries evolve over the next month or two.

Here’s an amusing article about aviation safety from October 2003 in The Onion.

“In every single breach of security in recent years, whether it was an act of terrorism or some other form of crime, it was a passenger who subverted the safety systems on board the aircraft or in the terminal,” FAA administrator Marion Blakey said. “Even threats that came in the form of explosives inside baggage were eventually traced back to a ticketed individual. As great a revenue source as they have been, passengers simply represent too great a risk to the airline industry.”

Who cares?

The RAC was electric tonight as Rutgers lost to U-Conn by 1. The crowd was screaming for blood and the tension was thick. At the end of the first half, with Rutgers up by 5, everyone was dreaming big.

And Rutgers play a great 35 minutes of basketball tonight. But it was the 5 minutes or so that they didn’t really show up that cost them the game. The 60% free-throw shooting, including misses on the front of some 1 and 1’s, were all the difference in a game like tonights.

Oh, it hurts to be sooo close and yet miss out! What an amazing upset it would have been!

Happy New Year everyone! I’ve been back from Utah for a little more than a day now. The skiing was beyond belief, though I wish I could have gone again the second day. Probably better I didn’t, all things considered. Jess’s family was great, they were all extremely generous and friendly people. In some ways I was able to relax more on this trip than I have in quite awhile. Hopefully I’ll have some photos posted soon.

Last night Dave and Nicole came over with a huge pile of alcohol and we toasted the New Year. Ram unfortunately said he wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t make it. Next year perhaps I’ll try organizing something a little better. In any event, welcome to 2004.