] PAYING FOR THE WAR: So should we? My own view is that
] we're not spending enough in the war on terror or
] homeland defense. I'm also viscerally opposed to tax
] hikes. But I can't keep having it every which way, if I
] also believe in restraining the debt. I used to think
] that running deficits would itself restrain spending -
] and then we see a Republican president endorsing the
] Medicare expansion after sending the debt through the
] roof. So that theory goes out the window. I don't believe
] in the supply-side notion that cutting taxes boosts
] revenue so much that the cuts pay for themselves
] (although I do think they help stimulate economic
] activity). So what's the responsible thing to do?
] Ideally, I'd propose means-testing social security,
] raising the retirement age, ending agricultural subsidies
] and carving away corporate welfare. But none of that is
] likely to happen any time soon. So I'm gradually moving
] toward the belief that we should propose some kind of
] temporary war-tax. Levy it on those earning more than
] $200,000 and direct it primarily to financing the war on
] terror. Put in a sunset clause of, say, four years. It
] may be time for some fiscal sacrifice for the war we
] desperately need to fight. And we need to fight it
] without creating government insolvency which, in the long
] run, will undermine the war. I don't love this idea; and
] I'm open to other suggestions. But it behooves us pro-war
] fiscal conservatives to propose something.

[ I'm not a big Sullivan guy, but there's some reason in this... at the very least it's creative thinking, which we could use more of on both sides of the aisle.

Everyone is *viscerally* against high taxes, it's natural, but *logic* demands that you realize the necessity of taxes at some level, especially, perhaps, in wartime. -k]

Sullivan on Paying For The War

[A little hope from Andrew Sullivan's mailbag :

] FROM A SOLDIER IN SPECIAL OPS: "Well ... And so it now
] begins. My more liberal friends told me a day like this
] would come, and now I am forced to eat crow. Words cannot
] express the hurt and anger I feel for the man's blatant
] constitutional and moral attack on a segment of our
] population. And for the still wobbly among us, make no
] mistake ... this is an attack... I realized long ago I am
] (was) a Republican solely for foreign affairs. But that's
] not good enough anymore. I've helped feed the Kurds in
] Northern Iraq, I've slept in the mud and rain to enforce
] peace treaties in eastern Europe, seated in 100 percent
] humidity in southeast Asia, and I dodged too many bullets
] and remote controlled bombs in and around Mosul to count.
] But I gladly did this (and will do it again) to protect
] the rights and liberties of ALL Americans, not just those
] of my family.
]
] I voted for this man ... despite what my family said,
] despite how many times I was smeared because I am African
] American and (was) a Republican, despite his joy in being
] an anti-intellectual ... they warned me, they warned me
] and I didn't listen ... and now I am ashamed of myself.
] By all that I hold Holy it will never happen again!"

-k]

www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish

] "Clear Channel drew a line in the sand today with regard
] to protecting our listeners from indecent content and
] Howard Stern's show blew right through it," said John
] Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. "It was
] vulgar, offensive, and insulting, not just to women and
] African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common
] decency. We will not air Howard Stern on Clear Channel
] stations until we are assured that his show will conform
] to acceptable standards of responsible broadcasting,"
] Hogan said.

[ It just did that NOW?!?!? Bullshit. Clearchannel has been raking in money via Howard Stern's obscenity for YEARS and loved every second of it. What's changed? Is this legit or should I fire up the Rove-meter? Did Stern make one too many orgasm sounds on the radio or did he give props to the Dems? Too many strippers and porn stars or too much W. bashing? Did he oppose the Hate Amendment?

My inner conspiracy theory machine is mild and set low, but this set off some warning bells... i'm calling shenanigans. -k]

Howard Stern Show Taken Off Clear Channel Stations

[ Thought i'd post a few political cartoons re: The Hate Amendment... so far, the linked one and the two below are what i've seen :

http://www.rjmatson.com/images/cartoons/NYO334.jpg
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/comics/images/Toles/20040226.gif

The meme link itself is the best one, imho, though i like that RJ Matson one a lot too, because of the quote at the bottom... -k]

Daily Kos || Except for homos

] The team%u2019s discovery lays the foundation for many
] creative approaches to developing new therapies for HIV
] infection and AIDS, Sodroski says. One possibility is
] that monkey TRIM5-alpha could be delivered to HIV
] patients via gene therapy to rescue as-yet-uninfected
] cells. Alternatively, Sodroski offers, because humans
] make a protein that is 87 percent identical,
] investigators might also focus on rendering the human
] version of TRIM5-alpha more potent.

[ The sooner the better. -k]

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Monkey Protein Blocks HIV

] A spokeswoman at Microsoft Japan confirmed that the Fair
] Trade Commission inspected the Tokyo headquarters office
] but denied any wrongdoing.
]
]
] A commission official, speaking on customary condition of
] anonymity, said Microsoft Japan is suspected of attaching
] improper restrictive conditions when signing software
] deals with Japanese personal computer manufacturers, such
] as requiring that Japanese companies allow infringement
] of their patents.

[ On the heels of the EU decision, Japan rolls up... -k]

Yahoo! News - Japanese Unit of Microsoft Is Raided

[Japan still rules.... picked this and the new GiTS sequel trailer from /. today : GiTS : http://www.innocence-movie.jp/trailer/index.html]

Appleseed Trailer...

] He proposed some solutions that would reduce future
] payments to retirees, including changing the ages at
] which retirement benefits are paid and changing the
] inflation measure used to index the payments.
]
] The government should pay the obligations it's already
] made, he said, adding that any cuts in future retirees'
] benefits should be decided as soon as possible so those
] people can plan ahead.
]
] ...
]
] While acknowledging that recent tax cuts had helped
] worsen the budget picture, Greenspan said he favored
] cutting spending rather than raising taxes, suggesting
] tax hikes could hurt the economy.

[ What should we cut? What's left? We're facing a deficit of over $500 billion, not including a few hundred billion for Iraq, etc. so where's that money gonna come from, if not taxes? -k]

Greenspan warns against U.S. budget deficits - Feb. 25, 2004

I was just wondering.

And has anyone seen my little puppy? His name is Compassion, and I can't find him anywhere. I'm afraid he may have been put to sleep, but it's also possible he's being detained as an unlawful combatant. There's really no telling; perhaps I'll never know. Regardless, the grave and gathering danger of unleashed Compassion has been contained. For the moment, anyway.

Put in perspective, this is all for the best, because Compassion felt really out of place in a post-9/11 world. Back in 2000, he was a real v^hgo-getter, but has since become a dog that just couldn't hunt.

I'm thinking a Collie is what I need now ...

What Ever Happened to Being a 'Uniter, not a Divider'?

[ I still have a problem with hydrogen because there's still no efficient way to make it. Solar panels are nice, but have a high energy cost as well, wind is cool if you live in the plains, but not much use elsewhere, and plugging your hydrogen generator into the wall is not at all efficient either, last i checked. Until we can get hydrogen from a catalytic reaction that doesn't require a shitload of added energy, it's just not that great an idea.

(i put the quote below in here just because it's funny...) -k]

] If you choose to store the Hydrogen as a compressed
] gas, you'll need HUGE tanks, and many of them, since
] Hydrogen isn't very dense, so a tank really can't hold
] all that much. In addition, you'll be driving a giant
] bomb. In a collision, expect to die in a huge
] fireball/explosion.

Hydrogen Fuel Systems