NYTimes - Magazine Money Edition: The Sink-or-Swim Economy: "What's weird, and deeply unsettling, about today's economy is that the big picture bears so little resemblance to the small picture, that is, to everyday life. The big picture shows the economy tracing a gentle, rather lazy slope -- a few tenths of a percentage point up or down, nothing too drastic. Closer to ground level, meanwhile, the action is nonstop and frenetic. At any given moment, some people and businesses are enjoying outrageous good fortune. Others are falling under a rain of slings and arrows. "

"… Congress represents the constituency of the frightened rich—not the will or the spirit of what was once a democratic republic but the interest of a scared and selfish oligarchy anxious to preserve its comforts in the impregnable vaults of military empire. The grotesque maldistribution of the country’s wealth over the last thirty years has brought forth a class system fully outfitted with the traditional accessories of complacency, stupidity and pride. People supported by incomes of $10 or $15 million dollars a year not only mount a different style of living than those available to an income of $50,000 or even $150,000, they acquire different habits of mind—reluctant to think for themselves, afraid of the future, careful to expatriate their profits in off shore tax havens, disinclined to trust a new hairdresser or a new idea, grateful for the security of gated residential protectorates, reassured by reactionary political theorists who say that history is at an end and that if events prove otherwise (angry mobs rising up in the Third World slums to beg a chance at freedom or demand a piece of the action) America will send an army to exterminate the brutes…
It’s conceivable that we might soon see a change in the program. The American citizenry isn’t as dumb as the American elites condescendingly like to think and believe, and if it can be generally understood that an ill conceived war with Iraq comes to us courtesy of the same feeble-mindedness that set up the Enron and WorldCom swindles, we might learn to elect politicians, who speak to our courage and intelligence rather than our weakness and fear.
From 'Hail Caesar' by Lewis Lapham, Harper’s December 2002"

"THE BIGGEST BLOGGERS
- Minnesota journalist James Lileks, who writes about his family life and the way of the world in Minneapolis.
- Opinionated Australian journalist giving the lowdown on Down Under.
- the homeless guy = a 40-something man who lives on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, and uses the library to update his blog."

Unreliable Facts from The Brains Trust: "World Wide Worm
The next version of MS Windows is to be sold bundled with nearly 1Gb of new worms and viruses in attempt to stop the world's servers on the internet being overloaded by ones that other people have written. However, inside sources reveal that over 60% of these will require a service pack that can only be downloaded - via the internet - before they will work."

Baghdad Burning: "The Beginning...
So this is the beginning for me, I guess. I never thought I'd start my own weblog... All I could think, every time I wanted to start one was 'but who will read it?' I guess I've got nothing to lose... but I'm warning you- expect a lot of complaining and ranting. I looked for a 'rantlog' but this is the best Google came up with.

A little bit about myself: I'm female, Iraqi and 24. I survived the war. That's all you need to know. It's all that matters these days anyway.

Riverbend"

If true... this is the problem.....Baghdad Burning: "The Myth: Iraqis, prior to occupation, lived in little beige tents set up on the sides of little dirt roads all over Baghdad. The men and boys would ride to school on their camels, donkeys and goats. These schools were larger versions of the home units and for every 100 students, there was one turban-wearing teacher who taught the boys rudimentary math (to count the flock) and reading. Girls and women sat at home, in black burkas, making bread and taking care of 10-12 children.

The Truth: Iraqis lived in houses with running water and electricity. Thousands of them own computers. Millions own VCRs and VCDs. Iraq has sophisticated bridges, recreational centers, clubs, restaurants, shops, universities, schools, etc. Iraqis love fast cars (especially German cars) and the Tigris is full of little motor boats that are used for everything from fishing to water-skiing. ........
Listen to this little anecdote. One of my cousins works in a prominent engineering company in Baghdad- we’ll call the company H. This company is well-known for designing and building bridges all over Iraq. My cousin, a structural engineer, is a bridge freak. He spends hours talking about pillars and trusses and steel structures to anyone who’ll listen.

As May was drawing to a close, his manager told him that someone from the CPA wanted the company to estimate the building costs of replacing the New Diyala Bridge on the South East end of Baghdad. He got his team together, they went out and assessed the damage, decided it wasn’t too extensive, but it would be costly. They did the necessary tests and analyses (mumblings about soil composition and water depth, expansion joints and girders) and came up with a number they tentatively put forward- $300,000. This included new plans and designs, raw materials (quite cheap in Iraq), labor, contractors, travel expenses, etc.

Let’s pretend my cousin is a dolt. Let’s pretend he hasn’t been working with bridges for over 17 years. Let’s pretend he didn’t work on replacing at least 20 of the 133 bridges damaged during the first Gulf War. Let’s pretend he’s wrong and the cost of rebuilding this bridge is four times the number they estimated- let’s pretend it will actually cost $1,200,000. Let’s just use our imagination.

A week later, the New Diyala Bridge contract was given to an American company. This particular company estimated the cost of rebuilding the bridge would be around- brace yourselves- $50,000,000 !! "

Urban Legends Reference Pages: (Recent Additions): "This page lists recent updates and additions to the Urban Legends Reference Pages"

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Neil Morgan -- Tiptoeing across the news in San Diego: "A special tax case?
The developer Doug Manchester deserves a new tax form for reporting his gross income from leaving people alone. The port pays him $5 million not to build the next bay-front hotel. Now Oceanside pays him $2.2 million to go away and never come back. Ted Geisel wrote it first: 'Marvin K. Mooney, won't you please just go?'"

The Bush Administration certainly does not seem to "walk the talk"... harsh reality vs sound bites...Global Women's Issues Scorecard on the Bush Administration

American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940

MIT OpenCourseWare | OCW Home

Bob's Fridge Door from Cybersatirist Bob Hirschfeld Bob Hirschfeld ...."I launched this humble, self-serving, ego-stroking site in 1998. When it was immediately featured in Newsweek and newspapers around the country and received numerous awards such as PC Magazine Top 100, I quickly realized there are no standards online. "

Fix the American Economy.... Duct tape to the rescue !!!!! Duct Tape Clothing, fashion, wallets, purses, and more!

Broken Newz - Satire News

May we all live in (survive) interesting times....Ironic Times - August 25, 2003

Ann Coulter Spontaneously Combust: ah...wishful thinking...BOROWITZ report.com

Ok... thanks to Dave Barry Blogs... here's some mindless entertainment...
jellygames - Shockwave and Flash arcade

We're losing the war in Afghanistan, too
A human rights worker reports from the other front in the U.S. war on terror, where warlords rule supreme, music is once again banned, journalists hide from gunmen, and even the streets of Kabul are filled with fear.

Another good guy.....
Extra! Articles by Norman Solomon

Wow... it's been weeks since I last wrote...

Since then:
the lights went out over the NE.... thanks to the emphasis on "making more money" vs "maintaining the infrastructure for the best good". I guess we NEVER will learn that Greed is not a good thing.
Looks like Schwarzenegger will be our next gov... he a bit to tied to the Bushies but has been a boon for the comedy acts and journalists. Name's hard to spell, but he's definitely got that cartoon quality so lacking in most politicians.
The good Texas politicians are seeing much more of Albuquerque than they wish. and I'm sure that they will all have listened to many more "Texan" jokes than they wanted. I don't think that a month's vacation in the New Mexican desert was high on anyones schedule. but hey... Albuquerque is a great city....
Viruses and worms all over the internet.
The UN was targeted in Iraq: and the good old US diplomacy contiues stomping around making more enemies than friends. My heart hurts for everyone in Iraq and Afganistan including our troops..
Ashcroft is stumping the nation.... trying to sell the "Patriot Act" as a "good thing"....
The FCC is trying to backpedal and sell "localization" and what they REALLY REALLY meant when they gave another chunk of the public airwave exclusively to the BIG MEDIA.... all for the little guy??

On the local front:
Brother Charlie and Jan stopped by on their way from Australia to NY... Big reunion in NC.. guess I need to help plan. Presently it looks like well have between 12 and 14 people sharing 3 beds... hmmmmm...... camping in the mountains in Sept is a great idea. Should be fun once I get over my normal hermit's preference for solitude...
Figs are ripe: can't keep up with them... tried drying but failed completely.. got lots of lovely mold. Made fig/raspberry preserves... tasty.. but have no idea when we'll actually consume it. Woud take it to the reunion but don't think I want to try to get it through airport security...
The birds like the figs... but the foxes like the birds... and the birds don't like the foxes... the foxes also prefer the cat's food to the figs and the cats don't eat figs ... so I will have LOTS of rotten figs soon...

today reading by/about:
Paul Begula
Dubyas' World
The Smirking Chimp
Peter Hart @ Fair.org

all for now....

The Heartbreak continues.

Guatemala's Constitutional Court made a fateful mistake this week when it ruled that Efrain Rios Montt can run for president in November. Rios Montt has already proved his unfitness for the job - he was Guatemala's dictator in 1982 and 1983. Backed by clandestine security forces, his victory could once again allow fear to rule Guatemala.
Rios Montt's misrule was disastrous for Guatemala. The truth commission in Guatemala concluded that during his brief time as president, 400 Mayan villages were destroyed and some 17,000 people murdered. These were the worst atrocities of the country's 36-year civil war - the truth commission called them acts of genocide. (from International Herald Times)

The past lessons seem to have little impact? PBS special Discovering Dominga paints the picture .... but this isn't the mainstream "Reality" show that the public want's to hear.