The Fulcrum
Friday, September 02, 2005
Give
I'm off to give blood this afternoon. After I look through my checkbook hopefully I'll have something in there to give as well.
Give. Give 'till it hurts:
Give. Give 'till it hurts:
Red Cross: 1-800-HELP-NOW
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Quagmire Part 2?
Seems that BushCo. just doesn't know how to respond to situations that require a military response. They didn't send enough troops or equipment to do the job they started in Iraq; now they've done the same thing in New Orleans. Had Shrubby boy cut short his vacation by just a couple of more days, he could have had emergency responders and more National Guard standing buy to help out the Gulf Coast. Instead he went to a couple of fund raisers and kept trying to sell his dead-in-the-water Social Security reform.
Now the streets of the Big Easy are nearly as dangerous as those in Baghdad - minus the suicide bombers - for now.
Last night the evacuation of the refugees from the Super Dome was suspended because some of the roving gangs of armed thugs who've been looting the city decided it would be fun to take pot-shots at the Chinook helicopters taking them out and to carjack the busses they were riding in. It's only today that armored National Guardsmen are making their way into the city. An inexcusable delay.
But we couldn't have Bush's vacation shortened by too much, now could we?
Post Script: In situations like this, police and National Guardsmen should only be required to issue one verbal warning to looters, carjackers and other armed, lawless thugs. Then they should be able to shoot them in the street like the animals they are.
Now the streets of the Big Easy are nearly as dangerous as those in Baghdad - minus the suicide bombers - for now.
Last night the evacuation of the refugees from the Super Dome was suspended because some of the roving gangs of armed thugs who've been looting the city decided it would be fun to take pot-shots at the Chinook helicopters taking them out and to carjack the busses they were riding in. It's only today that armored National Guardsmen are making their way into the city. An inexcusable delay.
But we couldn't have Bush's vacation shortened by too much, now could we?
Post Script: In situations like this, police and National Guardsmen should only be required to issue one verbal warning to looters, carjackers and other armed, lawless thugs. Then they should be able to shoot them in the street like the animals they are.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Wishing Doesn't Make It So
One in a recent series of articles on the so-called Evolution - Creationism conflict in the NYT, this article really disturbs me. Here's the gist of it:
In a finding that is likely to intensify the debate over what to teach students about the origins of life, a poll released yesterday found that nearly two-thirds of Americans say that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools.
The article goes on to detail how many of our deluded citizens think various things about creationism; all of which are too depressing to go into.
I've stayed mostly out of this "debate" because I get so angry that I can't be sure if I'll get my point across or, indeed, make any sense at all. But this most recent article has just been one too many. Here's my take: It doesn't matter what you want. There is no debate among real biologists: evolution is fact. None. Hell, I wish that Thermofluid Dynamics had been a little easier when I was in college; all of my classmates did. But that didn't make it so. In the same way, it doesn't matter to scientists what stupid people want or wish or believe. In science class, science should be taught. Not religion. And no matter how pretty a face the IDiots put on Intelligent Design or whatever the current euphemism is, it's still religion.
Period.
If we think that our schools are graduating a crop of morons now, just wait and see what happens to our technological standing in the world if these people have their way.
Now excuse me while I bang my head on my desk some more...
***********
To see what other people are saying about this, start with Steve at the Yellow Doggerel and also read several entries at Americablog. You can also search the NYT (registration required) archives for their previous articles.
I've stayed mostly out of this "debate" because I get so angry that I can't be sure if I'll get my point across or, indeed, make any sense at all. But this most recent article has just been one too many. Here's my take: It doesn't matter what you want. There is no debate among real biologists: evolution is fact. None. Hell, I wish that Thermofluid Dynamics had been a little easier when I was in college; all of my classmates did. But that didn't make it so. In the same way, it doesn't matter to scientists what stupid people want or wish or believe. In science class, science should be taught. Not religion. And no matter how pretty a face the IDiots put on Intelligent Design or whatever the current euphemism is, it's still religion.
Period.
If we think that our schools are graduating a crop of morons now, just wait and see what happens to our technological standing in the world if these people have their way.
Now excuse me while I bang my head on my desk some more...
***********
To see what other people are saying about this, start with Steve at the Yellow Doggerel and also read several entries at Americablog. You can also search the NYT (registration required) archives for their previous articles.
Monday, August 29, 2005
BushCo Allergic to the Truth
Last week it was the Justice Department statistician who dared to tell the truth about the differential treatment of minorities received during traffic stops. This week it's a contracting official for the Army Corps of Engineers who raised questions about non-competitive bids awarded to Halliburton subsidiary KBR in Iraq. From the NYT:
A top Army contracting official who criticized a large, noncompetitive contract with the Halliburton Company for work in Iraq was demoted Saturday for what the Army called poor job performance.The lesson should be clear to everyone now; do not, under any circumstances, bring this administration news that doesn't conform to its predetermined world-view. It's a good way to get your head handed to you...
The official, Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, has worked in military procurement for 20 years and for the past several years had been the chief overseer of contracts at the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that has managed much of the reconstruction work in Iraq.
[snip]
Ms. Greenhouse's lawyer, Michael Kohn, called the action an "obvious reprisal" for the strong objections she raised in 2003 to a series of corps decisions involving the Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, which has garnered more than $10 billion for work in Iraq.
[snip
Known as a stickler for the rules on competition, Ms. Greenhouse initially received stellar performance ratings, Mr. Kohn said. But her reviews became negative at roughly the time she began objecting to decisions she saw as improperly favoring Kellogg Brown & Root, he said. Often she hand-wrote her concerns on the contract documents, a practice that corps leaders called unprofessional and confusing.
