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| compos mentis. Concision. Media. Clarity. Memes. Context. Melange. Confluence. Mishmash. Conflation. Mellifluous. Conviviality. Miscellany. Confelicity. Milieu. Cogent. Minty. Concoction. |
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| Topic: High Tech Developments |
9:59 am EST, Dec 29, 2003 |
... high-paying jobs filled by cheap foreign labor. Think of the long-term consequences. What will America be like 50 years from now? Will we be a nation of service providers and salespeople who pitch only foreign products to each other? Surely a nation where all of our goods are 10 percent cheaper is not superior to a nation in which most of the population is gainfully employed. This is a letter in response to the "Bracing for the Blow" article from a few days ago. Asking questions, but still missing the point. Goodbye, Good Jobs |
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Ghosts of Occupations Past |
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| Topic: History |
9:28 am EST, Dec 29, 2003 |
A few choice quotes from the articles at The CounterRevolutionary. Persons familiar with occupation problems and policies are concerned because the American people do not feel a sense of personal responsibility toward seeing to it that the fruits of war victories are not lost by inept and inadequate control of the defeated countries in the post-war period. [Officials] believe that our performance suffers by comparison ... [and] feel that there are a number of reasons for this, including ... Americans' natural disinclination to do such work. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. |
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| Topic: History |
5:50 pm EST, Dec 28, 2003 |
"Dark Outlook Encourages Resistance: Underground War Is Believed Likely If We Fail in Our Major Purposes Elonka wrote:
I love this site ... news articles from post World War II, during the occupation of Germany. Those who do not study history, are doomed to repeat it ... The CounterRevolutionary |
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In Search of Justice, Not Vengeance |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
9:38 am EST, Dec 28, 2003 |
The economic and political future of our country depends first and foremost on the supremacy of law. [Our future] depends on establishing clear legal mechanisms to differentiate between genuine criminals and the vast majority of innocents. It's not about your government. But does it still apply? In Search of Justice, Not Vengeance |
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The Bad Words Won't Go Away |
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| Topic: Society |
9:30 am EST, Dec 28, 2003 |
For generations, people were openly uptight about "those things" across the board. But we no longer are. And thus, banning the f-adjective in 2003 becomes a random, isolated gesture, displaying a studied daintiness that can only be defended with stammering vaguenesses. We are witnessing less a linguistic free-for-all than a narrowing of the gap between the formal and the informal in public discourse. Just like clothing, our language reflects who we are. Envision a heated debate on the floor of the Senate in the year 2020. The "gap" has completely disappeared, but Robert's Rules remain firmly in place. The Bad Words Won't Go Away |
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Big Intrusions, Tiny Pictures and Patented Problems |
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| Topic: High Tech Developments |
9:18 am EST, Dec 28, 2003 |
This is the year the Internet officially stopped being fun. Is there really no room left for creativity in the computer business? The innovation that drives the computing and electronics industries is directly threatened by the continued expansion and abuse of the patent and copyright laws. ... under the DMCA, no developer or consumer can be safe. Is that the future we want to live in? This article is one of those annual retrospectives that might actually be informative if you've been at Gitmo for the last year, but the author does reiterate a few points worth noting. Big Intrusions, Tiny Pictures and Patented Problems |
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2003's Ideas: The Most Overrated and Underrated |
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| Topic: Society |
10:58 am EST, Dec 27, 2003 |
An essential component of beauty is being undermined and will soon be practically eliminated, and that is scarcity. If there is only one right way of doing things, every other way is wrong. Anybody can complain, blog and find fault; the real intellectual might try to solve problems. Capitalism and democracy are sometimes equated, but ... get over that fairy tale. ... There's long been a mostly unrewarded group in the middle: people with great taste in music ... ... email, cell phones, working nights and weekends, "working out" ... What are we trying to prove? The demand for truthful answers to the most essential questions is more and more often dismissed as "partisan" or, worse, "unpatriotic" ... integrity made to seem weak ... what could be more terrifying than the prospect of a society that no longer has the desire, the will, the energy or the ability to distinguish between the truth and the spin that our leaders would prefer us to believe? 2003's Ideas: The Most Overrated and Underrated |
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| Topic: International Relations |
10:32 am EST, Dec 27, 2003 |
A succession of startling developments in Pakistan has left analysts from Islamabad to Washington guessing. Even at its most transparent, Pakistani politics are difficult to decode. Right now, things are even murkier than usual. Washington's immediate challenge is to discover what is really going on there. The New York Times is just plain confused, and isn't afraid to say so. I imagine the editors spent time yesterday going through the press book, calling the usual suspects and asking, "can you explain this?" Finding no easy answers, this editorial is the result. The Musharraf Mysteries |
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| Topic: International Relations |
10:15 am EST, Dec 27, 2003 |
More than ever, Musharraf's ability to deliver on his promises ... is in doubt. Washington finds Musharraf seductive in part because reliance on him is the simplest approach to a series of complicated problems. ... Osama bin Laden is probably somewhere in Pakistan ... If Musharraf were to fall victim to assassination, Pakistan's own nuclear arsenal might be up for grabs ... At least the Post understands what is at stake. Recall Rumsfeld's Rules: For every human problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong. One Man's Fortune |
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| Topic: Current Events |
12:32 pm EST, Dec 26, 2003 |
"Enough of the war talk. You're crushing my holiday spirit." "You're right. Let's go see Return of the King." |
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