The Everlasting Phelps
14/03/2003
13/03/2003
Rich, poor differ on how to be a success
Rich cite hard work, poor say education
This one isn't hard to figure out. I deal with a good number of rich people. Some of them have college degrees; some of them didn't even finish high school. All of them worked hard.I also know lots of not-rich people. (I know few people who are really poor. Doesn't happen much in America.) Some of them have college degrees, some don't. The ones that have degrees aren't rich because they didn't work nearly as hard as the ones who are rich without degrees.
Also, why are we worried about how poor people think that you get rich? What do they know? They don't have the skills they need to know.
12/03/2003
United Press International: Air Force tests MOAB monster bomb
Jeremiah 48:14-19Do you remember that boast of yours, "We are heros, mighty men of war"? But now Moab is to be destroyed, her destroyer is on the way; her choicest youth are doomed to slaughter, says the King, the Lord of Hosts. Calamity is coming fast to Moab.Jeremiah 48:25-28O friends of Moab, weep for her and cry! See how the strong the beautiful is shattered! Come down from your glory and sit in the dust, O people of Dibon, for those destroying Moab shall shatter Dibon too, and tear down all her towers. Those in Aroer stand anxiously beside the read to watch, and shout to those who flee Moab, "What has happened there?"
The strength of Moab is ended -- her horns are cut off; her arms are broken. Let her stagger and fall like a drunkard, for she has rebelled against the Lord. Moab shall wallow in her vomit, scorned by all. For you scorned Israel and robbed her, and were happy at her fall.Biblical Moab was a land east of Israel comprising part of modern day Jordan and western Iraq.O people of Moab, flee from your cities and live in the caves like doves that nest in the clefts and rocks.
11/03/2003
Powell Warns France That US Will Veto Their Entire Country
I really miss SatireWire.com. Maybe this site will step up and take up the slack. God knows the Onion isn't up to the job.Pravda.RU Iraq: The Truth, The Whole Truth
This one is funny. I bet she would have 30 cats if Saddam didn't keep executing them.“One of the main causes of the hunger which afflicts the Iraqi people is the policy adopted by the USA, for more than eight years now, of sending viruses against Iraqi crops and the policy of dropping thousands of mice by parachute to destroy what little we have”.Okay, that is the third time I've read it, and I still can't read it without laughing. I have this vision of thousands of little mouse paratroopers, with those tiny parachutes that you got with the plaistic army man that you throw up into the air, floating down backlit by burning oil wells with "Ride of the Valkyries" playing in the background, dealing death with rubber band guns and hatpins...
Alligator, Land Mine Confiscated In Drug Raid
It is worth noting that he was booked for the weed, but apparenly was NOT booked for having the land mine. It was also noted that you need a special permit to keep an alligator.I think it is funny that it was in Florida, NEW YORK, too.
"Hey, doncha know there's alligators all over Florida?"
"Not Florida New York, you danged fool!"
Portugal: U.S. 'best way' to have security
Another sermon from the Church of the Painful Truth. We might have to ordain Mr. Martins da Cruz.Kofi Annan - Keep the U.N. United
I think he has all the facts right, and still comes to the wrong conclusion.But the immediate and most urgent aspect of that task is to ensure that Iraq no longer has such weapons. Why? Because Iraq has actually used them in the past, and because it has twice, under its present leadership, committed aggression against its neighbors--against Iran in 1980, and against Kuwait in 1990.War is not something that is about to begin. War has been waged for the last 12 years. Sanctions are an act of war. The Iraqi people already feel the effects of war -- they are starving under the worst regime since Stalin while the UN wrings its hands.That is why the Security Council is determined to disarm Iraq of these weapons, and has passed successive resolutions since 1991 requiring Iraq to disarm.
All over the world, people want to see this crisis resolved peacefully. They are alarmed about the great human suffering that war always causes, whether it is long or short. And they are apprehensive about the longer-term consequences that this particular war might have.
Has that moment arrived? That is the decision that the members of the Security Council now face. It is a grave decision indeed. If they fail to agree on a common position, and some of them then take action without the council's authority, the legitimacy of that action will be widely questioned, and it will not gain the political support needed to ensure its long-term success, after its military phase.Sorry, Kofi. It isn't the legitimacy of the action that will be questioned; it will be the legitimacy of the UN that is in question. Should the US go in and do what the UN has been unable to do (as we certainly will) then it will show that the UN is useless when compared to the power of America and the "New Europe" allies.
If, on the other hand, the members of the council can come together, even at this late hour, and ensure compliance with their earlier resolutions by agreeing on a common course of action, then the council's authority will be enhanced, and the world will be a safer place.Here is the thing about negotiations, Kofi: If you are not able to walk away from the table, you cannot negotiate. The US has nothing to lose; the UN has everything to lose. If the UN agrees to sending the US in, then the status quo is preserved. If the US goes in without the UN -- and we certainly will -- then the UN will lose any semblance of control, and will either implode, or simply fade away.
All around the world these last few months, we have seen what an immense significance not only states, but their peoples, attach to the legitimacy provided by the U.N., and by the Security Council, as the common framework for securing peace. As they approach their momentous decision this week, I hope the members of the Council will be mindful of this sacred trust that the world's peoples have placed in them, and will show themselves worthy of it.Even more importantly, we will see how little significance the US attaches to the UN and the security counsel, and the terrible truth for you is that in this political world, the US opinion is the only one that matters.
The Willing and the Unwilling
An interesting anaylsis of association in world politics, and how little a role France actually plays in it. I have been hearing calls from more than one direction that it is time for France to lose it's permanent position on the UN Security counsel to Japan or India. I think this idea may be gathering steam, and rightly so.10/03/2003
What to wear as you fight through wind and snow
The designer, whose collections generally feature fox, mink and rabbit, turned the tables on anti-fur protesters.Hehehehehe...As the activists clambered on to the catwalk, at his show in the Carrousel du Louvre, security guards armed with fur coats bundled them into the things they most despise and dragged them off.
Carter: Iraq not 'just war'
Carter could have drifted into obscurity. Instead, he has embroiled himself in partisan bickering and trying to prove that he has never met a dictator he didn't like.These commitments have been predicated on basic religious principles, respect for international law and alliances that resulted in wise decisions and mutual restraint. Our apparent determination to launch a war against Iraq, without international support, is a violation of these premises.We have international support, James. We just don't have French support. Big difference.
In the case of Iraq, it is obvious that clear alternatives to war exist. These options -- previously proposed by our own leaders and approved by the United Nations -- were outlined again by the Security Council on Friday.Twelve years. 14 resolutions. No compliance. The inspectors aren't there to play Sherlock Holmes and ferret out the weapons. Iraq is supposed to present the weapons to them while they sit around and drink Pina Coladas. Inspections have failed. Hussain had a deadline: 15 days. That passed around 4,000 days ago.
But now, with our own national security not directly threatened and despite the overwhelming opposition of most people and governments in the world, the United States seems determined to carry out military and diplomatic action that is almost unprecedented in the history of civilized nations.Note the weasel word "civilized." He added this because he knows that this sort of thing happens all the time in history, but allows him to claim that everyone from Caesar to Bismark were "uncivilized."
Extensive aerial bombardment, even with precise accuracy, inevitably results in "collateral damage." Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of American forces in the Persian Gulf, has expressed concern about many of the military targets being near hospitals, schools, mosques and private homes.Not quite, James. He expressed concern that Hussain was moving his military targets into proximity with non-combatant areas. Think about that one until you grok it and get back to me.
Although there are visions of peace and democracy in Iraq, it is quite possible that the aftermath of a military invasion will destabilize the region and prompt terrorists to further jeopardize our security at home.We have heard this before: Afghanistan. In fact, the war stabilized the region and weakened the terrorists to the point that we have had no successful attacks on American soil.
I'm as surprised as you are; I thought that we would have to nuke someone and that the terrorists couldn't be policed. I was wrong; I'll readily admit that I prefer this resolution (as long as we don't have another attack slip through.)
Also, by defying overwhelming world opposition, the United States will undermine the United Nations as a viable institution for world peace.No: By tilting at the American windmill, the UN will undermine itself. All they are proving is that they don't matter. They could have supported thier own resolutions and at least hid that nasty fact for another decade.
What about America's world standing if we don't go to war after such a great deployment of military forces in the region? The heartfelt sympathy and friendship offered to America after the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, even from formerly antagonistic regimes, has been largely dissipated; increasingly unilateral and domineering policies have brought international trust in our country to its lowest level in memory.I don't think our policy has anything to do with that. The world had forgotten 9/11/01 by 11/11/01.
09/03/2003
Sunday_Mirror.co.uk - SADDAM'S SOLDIERS SURRENDER
I laughed my ass off. It gets good:The stunned Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade were forced to tell the Iraqis they were not firing at them, and ordered them back to their home country telling them it was too early to surrender.Now see here. This isn't a proper surrender. You can't surrender until wa have had a chance to shoot at you, you see? Now go back over there and wait for some bullets.
I'm still not sure why they didn't just accept them as defectors. I don't think that the Iraqi soldiers were going to split hairs about it.
