We think we have solved the mystery of creation. Maybe we should patent the universe and charge everyone a royalty for existence.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Stephen Hawking's Sense of Humor
"Stephen Hawking asks big questions about the universe"
Thursday, February 4, 2010
US to Launch Massive Helmand Offensive ‘Within Days’
US to Launch Massive Helmand Offensive ‘Within Days’
Back in WWI, everyone in Paris knew well in advance when one of the big Allied offensives was going to occur. But the military types couldn't figure out how come the Germans were never surprised. Gee, I wonder how many insurgents this offensive is going to catch unawares after we've been talking about it for a month in advance?
Military success would seem to require that this be kept a secret until the attack is unleashed upon the Taliban. But, propaganda success requires that the attack be loudly trumpeted for as long as possible to tell the people back home how successful we are in Afghanistan. What these announcements tell me is that propaganda success is considered far more important than military success.
Gee, we always hear how wonderful things are going for us in Afghanistan. Then you hear a little detail, like this one that says one of our imperial governors hasn't even been able to go into the province he's supposed to govern. To me, that doesn't sound like things are going all that well.
But hey, its nice to know our billions of tax payer dollars are going to help one warlord get control of a key opium producing region. Can't possibly think of a better use of billions of our dollars than that. Not like there's a recession on back at home, or maybe millions of Americans struggling to create health insurance company profits while maybe getting a little health care. Yep, nothing at home we could use that money for instead.
After spending nearly a month threatening such an action, officials say that the US Marines’ invasion of the Marjah region of Afghanistan’s Helmand Province could begin “within days.”
Back in WWI, everyone in Paris knew well in advance when one of the big Allied offensives was going to occur. But the military types couldn't figure out how come the Germans were never surprised. Gee, I wonder how many insurgents this offensive is going to catch unawares after we've been talking about it for a month in advance?
Military success would seem to require that this be kept a secret until the attack is unleashed upon the Taliban. But, propaganda success requires that the attack be loudly trumpeted for as long as possible to tell the people back home how successful we are in Afghanistan. What these announcements tell me is that propaganda success is considered far more important than military success.
But vague pledges of “alternatives” aside, the invasion’s key goal is to prop up Haji Zair, who was appointed as the Marjah governor but hasn’t been able to actually travel there, let alone set up residence.
Gee, we always hear how wonderful things are going for us in Afghanistan. Then you hear a little detail, like this one that says one of our imperial governors hasn't even been able to go into the province he's supposed to govern. To me, that doesn't sound like things are going all that well.
But hey, its nice to know our billions of tax payer dollars are going to help one warlord get control of a key opium producing region. Can't possibly think of a better use of billions of our dollars than that. Not like there's a recession on back at home, or maybe millions of Americans struggling to create health insurance company profits while maybe getting a little health care. Yep, nothing at home we could use that money for instead.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Laws
It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows what the law is today can guess what is will be tomorrow.
— James Madison, Federalist no. 62 [February 27, 1788]
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