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Thursday, August 22, 2002
I can't top his title
Allen Berra compares Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. Go there for the title to the column alone. It's an interesting comparison. I'll spoil a little -- Williams still looks better statistically. He ends, though, by asking and answering:
So, if the Yankees could have traded DiMaggio for Williams early in their careers, they should have done so, right? Well, you make the deal if you want. I wouldn't. One of the most important things to know about statistics is exactly how far they can take you in interpreting a player's value. Joe DiMaggio played for just 13 seasons, in which time his team won 10 pennants and nine World Series. This is the most remarkable record of team success in baseball and one of the most remarkable in all of sports, and by far the biggest reason for the success of the Yankees was DiMaggio. Read every account you can find about DiMaggio's life and career, and regardless of what they have to say about DiMaggio personally, you won't find a negative word about his ability to lead a team.
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Some men, like Ted Williams, inspire awe; others, like DiMaggio, inspire confidence. Ask the people who have been there: Confidence wins more pennants.
Sounds like the comparison people will be doing someday with Derek, Nomar, A-Rod, and Miguel Tejada.
Make a Judgment
The WSJ.com (subscription req'd) Op-Ed page has a column from LaShawn R. Jefferson, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Women's Rights Division. She goes after the Bush Administration
After the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government threw its full energies into combating terrorism emerging from militants in the Islamic world. But it has done little to expose and condemn the ways some states are using radical interpretations of Islamic law, or Shariah, to subordinate and exclude women. The U.S. should be equally concerned about the consequences of these interpretations on Muslims as well as non-Muslims.
I don't disagree with that. Most people are horrified when stories come out of usage of the Sharia. What is her solution?
Immediate reform of the aspects of Shariah that deny women equality under law and in practice is needed.
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Shariah need not be bad for women. Throughout the world, Muslim women want to live observant lives with human dignity and respect for their rights. Many Muslim women I know and work with are faithful Muslims and categorically reject the abuse of Shariah to sow their oppression.
Say what? She then goes on to list abuses and indignities of women under the law in various Muslim countries -- Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Pakistan. She has no examples of a country where the Sharia is fair to women. Apparently with Sharia you can hate the players but not the game.
Sharia is disgusting, repressive, rigid, Islamic law that is outdated and set up to favor Muslim men over non-Muslims and women. It needs to be junked. ANYONE who claims to support human rights should be able to acknowledge this. Not Ms. Jefferson, though, that would require a judgment against another culture. All she can do is keep calling them "radical interpretations."
It is much like the person who defends Communism as being a valid idea or concept, but it just was never properly applied by any country. The system is fine, it's just the people are the problem.
There will no doubt be significant and vigorous disagreement about whether the above examples are faithful interpretations and applications of Shariah. While this is being debated, millions of women living under Shariah contend with laws and practice that make a mockery of international human rights protections and endanger their lives.
There are varying interpretations among Islamic jurists about whether these applications are correct, but they are grossly unfair to women, antithetical to human-rights principles, and should be reformed.
By whom? Name a Muslim or Arab leader who has stepped up and tried to affect changes to Islamic law -- and lived. Despite her mentioning reform or proper interpretations of Sharia, her real solutions sound all too familiar.
The international community must pressure governments to reform criminal laws and strengthen secular justice systems so that the rule of law applies across society. Civil societies must be strengthened, and local women's groups that are pushing for reform should be supported. The U.N., European Union, and other multilateral bodies should redouble their efforts to support long-term projects that improve women's legal and other status.
Letter writing campaigns are the key. International pressure seems to be HRW's answer to all problems.
Terrorist activity worldwide: international pressure on the leaders to engage in a dialogue.
Iraq: International pressure to allow arms inspectors into the country.
Muslim countries mistreating women and non-Muslims: International pressure to be nice.
Israel-Palestinians: International pressure on Israel.
Sure, international pressure hasn't worked, just give it a little more time.
The Future Blogosphere
Reading Dave Copeland's post on blogging reminded me of a post that has been turning inside my head for a couple weeks regarding the future of blogging and how people approach blogging. I wrote a p ost back in May in response to a column by Jonah Goldberg that went after those talking of a "blogging revolution." It read in part:
Most use the term "blogger revolution" with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Just about no one believes that bloggers will replace mainstream media. They can't. It is symbiotic (though, some of the victims of blogger-analysis would consider it parasitic) with the media. Bloggers comment on the information supplied by others. They expose lies, biases, and mistakes of reporting, editorials, and opinion pieces. They bring attention to others works they find interesting, challenging, and good (at least consistent with their own biases).
Blogosphere. Most (I include myself here) use the terms blogosphere because it is a good way to describe what is happening within a limited community. It hardly applies to the whole world or the mainstream world. This hardly entails a revolution. The general feeling is that blogging is an effective way to comment and analyze news with the blogger's biases fully on display and not hidden behind any claims of balance.
I still believe this. Yes, there will be those bloggers, like the one cited by Dave Copeland who at best, display an irrational exuberance — at worst delusions of grandeur. You can also point to some instances where blogging has made a difference. (Example: in the beginning of August, Best of the Web and Little Green Footballs pointed out that BMW and Mercedes Benz made a point of either labeling Israel as Palestine or not listing Israel on maps of the Middle East on their Web sites — presumably to be "sensitive" to their Arab customers. Shortly afterwards, the maps were altered or disappeared.)
Given the continuing popularity of blogging and the increasing mainstream media coverage of blogs (not to mention establishing their own blogs), it is no surprise that some are seeking to formulate a way to make blogs a revenue source, as Dave lightly mentions. Making a profit from any content on the Internet has been the goal of so many before and will follow. Be it the holy grail of microcharges per piece of content or subscriptions for unlimited access. It is no surprise that someone would seek to create what sounds like a subscription based "blog community" where you pay for access to blogs within the community. This is what some online Pr0n companies like AdultCheck do. Do I think it would work for blog content as opposed to nekkid pictures? Unlikely. As Dave said,
I try not to kid myself: I know most people will click off this site if it takes too long to load. There's no way in hell they're going to take the time to go through a registration process, no matter how cheap it is.
Then there are those who may not see blogs and the blogosphere as necessarily a profit scheme, but see a community that can grow and evolve beyond lone voices on the Internet. Eric Olsen comes to mind. Eric recently conceived and launched BlogCritics.com, a site where bloggers submit reviews of books and music that generally is missed by the mainstream. Eric, along with Marty Thau, also came up with the idea of a " blog book" filled with blogger essays on September 11, with proceeds going to charity. I do not know where that stands now (presumably it is somewhere in the drafting/editing stage), but it is a great idea.
While not taking himself seriously, Eric sees potential for blogs and bloggers as a great supplement to major content providers and is actually trying to do something about it. It is audacious and ambitious and I hope it succeeds.
Right now, my attitude towards blogging is closer to Dave's. I enjoy blogging, and I'm not trying to do much with it, beyond trying to express my thoughts and opinions. The great thing about the blog, is that it doesn't have to stay like that.
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
The Sound of One Hand Typing
This is a very slow post, because I am typing only with my left hand. My darling daughter has fallen asleep on my lap with my right arm cradling her. Damn if I am not one lucky bastard. Have a good night.
That isn't a good foundation
You can insert your own jokes and puns regarding the " Stripperella" cartoon starring Pam Anderson. It won't be on until April, but it is already getting plenty of attention.
''I've been a fan of hers for years,'' says creator [Stan] Lee. ''I saw her in 'Baywatch' and 'Barb Wire,' so I KNOW what she's capable of.''
I too have been unfortunate enough to see Barb Wire. (Luckily, it was only on HBO or Showtime, so other than losing almost 2 hours of my life watching a thinly disguised blatant rip-off of Casablanca (Pam Anderson in the role of Rick -- don't ask) I can't be that upset.) I guess Stan means that it showed that she is ideally suited for animation.
Fehr-ing Steroids
Steroids testing in MLB will likely be like every other sport, best designed to catch only the stupid. Of course Union Chief Donald Fehr is doing his best to make sure it is only the sub-moronic who are at risk. This, despite being a member of the US Olympic Committee -- which has mandatory, random testing. Well, now the American Swimming Coaches Association wants Fehr kicked off the USOC.
In a letter to USOC president Marty Mankaamyer, obtained by USA Today, swimming official John Leonard said Fehr's presence "continues to give the USA an international black eye. Our entire sport's continuation depends on the reality and perception of clean sport. And Mr. Fehr is waffling on this issue."
It's all about perception.
Still not talking about a strike
I'm trying very hard not to break my moratorium on talking about the baseball strike, but I have to say that this idea for a new free agency paradigm from Dave Kaplan is hardly an original idea (via Eric Olsen).
The idea of only one-year contracts was first floated by Charles O. Finley (who by the way burns in hell for his other idea -- the Designated Hitter) back in the '70s before actual free agency occurred. Finley, at the time, was the owner of the Oakland A's. Marvin Miller was representing the union. Finley, a notorious skinflint, recognized that free agency was coming. He also had enough understanding of supply and demand to understand that the best way to keep salaries down with free agency was to make sure the supply was high.
Unfortunately,
1. Marvin Miller also understood this, and knew that limiting the supply (the number of players on the open market) would increase the demand and the players would be bid up in price. He was totally against the idea.
2. The other owners didn't seem to understand this basic economic idea, and were horrified by it seeing only the cost and potential for someone to buy a championship every year (something the Yankees are falsely accused of, but the real examples are Florida in 1997 and Arizona in 2001).
3. The only press was from horrified traditionalist sportswriters who decried the idea.
UPDATE: Dan Lewis e-mailed me to remind me he had also posted on this article, which I had forgotten. I was referring to the history, while Dan attacked a basic premise of Kaplan's article: "Players couldn’t possibly object to such a pay structure, even if it deflated average salaries. Their union has been beating the ideological drums since forever and it’d become a laughingstock if it turned down unbridled freedom." Dan easily dismantles that piece of wishful thinking.
BBC Definitions
Well, the things you stumble across. This is a Style Guide checklist of terms and definitions for BBC Radio.
Admissions
of responsibility are preferable to claims. Better still is a straightforward: " The IRA/UFF admitted killing/said it killed...."
Admit
Take care with "admit", which carries the implication that the speaker has accepted some guilt. "Acknowledge" is more neutral.
Hence, Palestinian terrorists never admit anything since they feel no guilt for their actions.
Assassinate
only political and religious leaders can be assassinated. Lesser mortals are murdered.
Bad
the subjective character of bad and good mean they must be used with extreme caution. Bad news for a mother trying to reclaim her children may be good news for their father. But a three per cent rise in inflation, combined with a 300 point fall in the One Hundred Share Index, and an extra half-million unemployed could reasonably be described as bad news for almost everyone.
Evil and Good are not in the list, but presumably the BBC treats them the same way.
British
be cautious, particularly with football. "England fans rampaged", "Scotland fans drank the place dry"; not British fans.
That doesn't seem to promote unity.
Brussels
Do not use Brussels as a synonym for the European Commission or any other European institution.
The proper synonym is "ridiculous, liberty stealing bureaucratic nightmare organization."
Courts
a review of the criminal code is beyond the scope of this guide. You are strongly recommended to attend one of the BBC's law courses. Do remember that defendants are always Mr, Mrs, Miss until convicted, however obvious their guilt and appalling their crimes. When people are remanded, always say for how long.
Death toll
Ugly and cliched. Try "the number of people who've been killed.."
Can't have ugly when talking about the number of dead people.
I hate to skip all the stuff on EU Institutions, Non-EU Institutions, European Courts, and EU Directives but it just runs on and on.
Execute
terrorists kill or murder their victims. They do not execute them. In the legal sense "to execute" means to carry out the death penalty, under the law.
Does Reuters know they use that word?
Football
Please, never "soccer".
For free
An ungrammatical Americanism. It's much better to say "for nothing", or simply "free".
Forced
troops or police open fire. It is not for us to say they were forced to do so.
Bite me.
Gay
some people believe the word "homosexual" has negative overtones, even that it is demeaning. Most homosexual men and women prefer the words "gay" and "lesbian". Either word is acceptable as an alternative to homosexual, but "gay" should be used only as an adjective. "Gay" as a noun - "gays gathered for a demonstration" - is not acceptable. If you wish to use homosexual, as adjective or noun, do so. It is also useful, as it applies to men and women.
I'm sorry, could you repeat that? Homosexual may be negative but it can be used as a noun or adjective. Gay and lesbian are preferred, but only as adjectives -- never as nouns.
Guerrillas
normally engaged in an irregular war against official security forces. They become terrorists when carrying out an act of terrorism; say, blowing up a school bus.
However, when the targets are Israelis, then they cease to be terrorists and become militants -- which is not defined.
I'm starting to think the BBC ignores its own guidelines or this is in serious need of an update to meet their present standards.
Innocent
anyone killed or injured when not committing a crime is innocent. The phrase "innocent victims" is usually one word longer than it need be.
Israeli Settlers on the West Bank or Gaza are never innocent, regardless of age, since we have concluded that they are violating some international law just by being there.
Objectivity
a precious quality, not to be compromised. The danger can arise when we are dealing with a story grown stale by familiarity, which is not going anywhere. A case in point - when a recent round of Northen Ireland negotiations staggered into its death throes, we opened successive cues with the words "the government is determined not to let the search for peace in Northern Ireland lose momentum" and "the government is wasting no time in trying to push forward the search for peace in Northern Ireland". The intention in each case was honourable: to breathe life into a story dead from the toes upwards. The effect, however, was to make made the cue sound as if we were speaking FOR the government. Let us make sure that we restrict ourselves to reporting what the government is doing, and refrain from reading its mind.
Again, matters dealing with Israel are excepted from this standard.
Pro-life
used in the United States. We should say "anti-abortion".
and and add right wing, conservative and if you can get an attack on Republicans in there, so much the better.
Charter School May Get Its Chance
A charter school was finally approved in Euclid, OH (a city at the east edge of Cuyahoga County, local income tax, 2.85% -- the max allowed)
The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 3-2 to let Constellation Community Schools open a state-funded branch in Boulevard Presbyterian Church on Lake Shore Boulevard. The city had barred the nonprofit group from three sites, including the church.
Funny the way charter schools can be blocked with good resistance.
Constellation had sensed a conspiracy on behalf of the Euclid public schools, which are under state-designated "academic watch."
That is a polite euphemism for "this school system sucks so bad, the state is ready to take it over because the state can't be any worse." I don't know why the charter school would suspect a conspiracy. I'm sure the superintendent of the school attends all the Planning and Zoning Commission Meetings.
Euclid schools Superintendent Joffrey Jones and school board member Kent Smith said the school would cost the district state aid. The charter school will receive $4,900 from the state for each of the 40 students it plans to enroll.
Only because the overcrowded Euclid schools would have 40 less students, so the per student portion of their budget would be reduced -- same as if a student moved or went to a private school (which is getting more common the worse the school gets). Not, however, their fixed budget.
More Budget Lawsuits in Cuyahoga
Meanwhile back in Cuyahoga County,
Cuyahoga County's veterans agency wants to squeeze nearly $5 million extra from the cash-strapped county even though the agency has a history of frittering away its money.
The Cuyahoga County Veterans Service Commission sued for the money yesterday - and then demanded that the county pay its legal tab.
The agency threw yet another punch. In a separate suit, it aims to derail a new state law that reins in the budgets of Ohio's biggest veterans agencies.
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Its lawsuits come at a time when Cuyahoga County is trying to stave off a $77 million deficit.
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But the president of the five-member board overseeing the veterans commission said the agency has improved its operations.
"I would not take that $4 million and squander it," said Daniel Weist, president of the veterans board. "I probably would not be able to spend it all between now and the end of the year."
But without the money, the agency will have to lay off some of its 30 staff members, Weist said. He also pointed out that the veterans agency is entitled to the money, under state law.
Ohio's veterans agencies, whose board members are appointed by judges in each county, are entitled to a set percentage of property tax money. Cuyahoga County's agency has typically not asked for its full share. This year, it could have received more than $14 million.
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Under Civil War-era legislation, Ohio's veterans agencies have great freedom in setting their budgets. The law states the budgets must be "legal" and "appropriate."
Dimora and the county's administrator, David Reines, said the dismal findings in the state audit would probably prove the veterans commission did not submit an "appropriate" budget.
The review released by the state auditor's office in March found that the agency had mismanaged nearly every aspect of its operation - wasting money, hiring too many people and forcing veterans to endure long waits to apply for help.
Old laws that remain on the books far too long come back to bite in the ass. What are the odds?
The third lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus, challenges the new state law aimed at reining in the state's veterans agencies.
Cuyahoga's agency was joined in the suit by the state Association of Veteran Service Commissioners and the state Association of County Veteran Service Officers. The law caps the amount of money the agencies in Ohio's five largest counties can receive starting in 2003.
If the agencies go over the cap, the county commissioners have the right to appoint six more members to the board, giving them majority control.
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Moses said state law does not allow legislators to "tack on" an amendment to a bill of a different subject. Moses said the amendment targeting the veterans agencies was tacked on to a budget bill.
It's impractical, but after watching the pork flow in the name of "homeland security," wouldn't that law be nice at the federal level?
Allegheny County Courts Update
In the post yesterday about Allegheny courts running out of money to pay court appointed attorneys, I said that Allegheny (unlike Cuyahoga) seems willing to act quickly to resolve this. Well, that looks about right.
Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey's administration is proposing to take $900,000 out of the county's reserves to pay court-appointed defense attorneys for the rest of the year.
If approved by County Council, the move would avert a looming crisis in the courts, which has run out of money to pay private attorneys to represent indigent defendants.
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With a two-thirds vote, County Council could approve the $900,000 transfer at its meeting tomorrow night. Council will also meet Aug. 29.
Granted, it helps that they have some reserves and are not running a $50-80 million deficit (again, Cuyahoga).
Tuesday, August 20, 2002
Reads a lot of Blogs
I'd provide a snippet of Mark Steyn's latest, but it is too good. Reading it, though, it struck me how many of the stories I have already read on various blogs. Steyn even ends the column with a plug for Charles Johnson. Guess Steyn doesn't mind acknowledging the information gathering service that blogs perform.
Homogeneous Bloggers
I'm starting to worry that I am fitting a certain " blogger profile" shared by Media Minded and Dean Esmay. All because of MM posting a little info on himself.
I am in my 30s (33), just completed driving a Toyota into the ground; while never a full liberal -- had severe distaste for Reagan, supported the Sierra Club and the ACLU; drugs in college - no comment; love Bass - though not as deeply as I used to with all the wonderful micros around me; this blog thing; and always rock/jazz/blues on the music list.
Other Media Options
I mentioned before about the Israeli track team is at the European championships in Munich on the 30th Anniversery of the terrorist killings of the Israelis '72 Olympic team. Jim Rome will be having Mark Spitz on during his third hour to talk about that (2pm - 3pm EST).
No Rhyme or Reason
My traffic has been very slow lately -- a mix of not a lot of news, not much being linked to me, and mainly not a lot of blogging from me now that I have a kid. Yesterday was one of my busier days without any linking; but I had nothing. It was very slow because the network was faulty all day at work -- not allowing much blogging or reading -- and then the wife doused the keyboard at home with her iced tea (and I was so sure I was going to be the one to do something stupid like that).
17th Congressional District Update
Sticking with Ohio and Courts, a federal judge has sided with the State of Ohio, that Gov. Bob Taft does not have to call for a special election to fill the seat left empty following the expulsion of Jim "Graft is such an ugly word" Traficant. The special election would have been a waste of money (about $800,000) to fill a seat for only about a month at best -- though the district court judge said that reason was insufficient.
Although the U.S. Constitution requires the governor to call a special election to replace a House member who fails to complete his term, U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. said Ohio's requirement that a primary be held before the election left insufficient time for candidates to raise money and campaign. That would contribute to a predictable lack of voter interest, he said.
Sargus also said that with the House scheduled to adjourn Oct. 3, it was unlikely that the new lawmaker would ever cast a vote before being replaced in a parallel election on Nov. 5 in Traficant's redrawn 17th Congressional District.
The ACLU, who filed this pointless lawsuit, has already filed a notice of appeal. Apparently their funds aren't that strapped these days.
Here come the lawsuits
Twice mentioning the same post on the Cuyahoga County Juvi. Court running out of money, today. I said back then that the lawsuits would follow. Well here is one:
The lawyers, and 230 of their colleagues, say they are being driven out of business and into debt because of the low fees they earn working in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court.
They represent abused children and those accused of crimes who cannot afford lawyers.
They filed a lawsuit in federal court against the county commissioners yesterday, claiming that the pay isn't just hurting their pocketbooks - it's hindering their ability to effectively represent kids.
The suit, in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, seeks to force the commissioners to raise the fees and bring them in line with other juvenile courts.
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Juvenile Court officials stopped paying the attorneys last month, saying they ran out of money because of county budget cuts.
While the commissioners have said they are trying to help the court find a way to squeeze more money out of its budget and start writing checks to the lawyers again, they don't think they can do much about raising the attorney's fees.
The cash-strapped county is trying to stave off a $50 million deficit by the end of the year.
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State law requires that a guardian be assigned to each of the hundreds of abuse and neglect cases filed each month in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court.
Guardians make $250 a case - regardless of whether they stay on the job for six weeks or six years. By all accounts, the rate is one of the lowest in the state.
Witt figures that they average about $8 an hour before taxes and expenses - even less after they shell out money for gas to visit their clients scattered in foster homes throughout Ohio.
The County is screwed.
Stop Blaming Others
I missed this story, but apparently American Muslim leaders are complaining that Bush is ignoring them. Guess who they blame:
"There were special interest groups involved immediately after those meetings last fall in trying to dissuade the administration from acting with us," said Salaam al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles.
"There's sort of a right wing - whether Christian fundamentalists or pro-Israel groups - that tries to drive wedges between us and decision-makers."
Gee, it wouldn't have anything to do with their opposing every administration move in the Middle East -- Iraq, Israel, Arafat Corruption, Palestinian terrorists. It would have nothing to do with their refusal to actually condemn without a "but" everytime a Palestinian suicide bomber strikes in Israel. Nope, it's a conspiracy between fundamentalist Christians and the Zionist Jews.
More Trouble for Courts
I've already mentioned that the Cuyahoga Juvi Court (Cleveland) has run out of money to pay its defense attorneys. Now, it appears that Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) has run out of money to pay court-appointed attorneys (not public defenders).
The budget for court-appointed defense attorneys has already been exhausted for the year, rendering the county unable, at least for the time being, to pay about $210,000 in invoices.
Jerry Tyskiewicz, fiscal affairs manager for the Court of Common Pleas, sent letters to 67 defense lawyers late last week to tell them "payment cannot be made at this time" for their work.
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In an attempt to stave off any such crisis, court administrators held urgent talks yesterday with representatives of county Chief Executive Jim Roddey's administration.
County Manager Bob Webb, Roddey's top lieutenant, said the chief executive might propose a budget transfer in time for Thursday night's County Council meeting to solve the problem. Such a transfer could entail tapping the county's $24 million reserve account or could come from other county departments.
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Expenditures for court-appointed defense counsel have skyrocketed this year. The county spent $1.16 million on private defense attorneys last year and budgeted $1.04 million for 2002, only to see projected expenditures soar to $1.70 million to $1.90 million for this year.
The increase stems at least in part from a doubling of the rates paid to defense lawyers for trial preparation, from $25 an hour to $50. That change took effect in the middle of last year.
In addition to the payments for prep work, the attorneys receive $250 for a half-day of trial work and $500 for a full day. To receive court appointments, lawyers must agree to handle one of every four cases on a pro bono basis.
Another factor possibly contributing to the budget overrun is an apparent increase in the number of defendants who, in filing appeals, are claiming that the county public defender's office provided inadequate representation. In such cases, the defendant is entitled to a private defense counsel until a ruling on the inadequate representation claim is made.
My friends at the PD's office will be less than thrilled with that last paragraph.
This is actually worse than Cuyahoga County's problem since it impacts all courts, not just the Juvi. Of course, Allegheny County leaders seems more willing to help resolve the problem than do the County Commissioners in Cuyahoga County. Of course the County Commissioners, these days, are trying to avoid answering embarrassing questions about how their early retirement program is going to actually save money.
I have a feeling that a lot of counties around the country are encountering this problem or will very soon.
Monday, August 19, 2002
Idiots
Well, I anticipate Charles Johnson's comment board will be in triple digits with this story he posted:
The National Education Association is suggesting to teachers that they be careful on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks not to "suggest any group is responsible" for the terrorist hijackings that killed more than 3,000 people.
Suggested lesson plans compiled by the NEA recommend that teachers "address the issue of blame factually," noting: "Blaming is especially difficult in terrorist situations because someone is at fault. In this country, we still believe that all people are innocent until solid, reliable evidence from our legal authorities proves otherwise."
But another of the suggested NEA lesson plans — compiled together under the title "Remember September 11" and appearing on the teachers union health information network Web site — takes a decidedly blame-America approach, urging educators to "discuss historical instances of American intolerance," so that the American public avoids "repeating terrible mistakes."
What's next? A session on seeking root causes of why the US is hated? CAIR seems happy with it, since Arab Islamists aren't to blame.
You mean it's true?
Arafat's former money man is spilling the beans on Arafat's embezzlement. Really, is there anyone outside of the EU bureaucrats who think Arafat wasn't corrupt and pocketing the aid? I mean, his own people have been crying for an end to the corruption.
Part 2 of Larry Miller goes to Israel. This time to the hospitals.
All right, back to the story. As I said, I went to two places to meet the terror victims. One was in Tel Aviv. I met an emergency room doctor, a woman, whose husband was killed a year ago in a bombing. She has two children. Had. Now she has one. She was on duty, weeks ago, in the middle of the night (Don't they call that the graveyard shift?), the night a disco was bombed. Maybe you heard about it. The victims were brought to her hospital. To her. Her daughter was one of them. Now the mother is a patient. "It was good of you to let her tell you her story," the head of the place told me. "It's therapeutic." Good of me? What do you say to that? "I'm glad I could help so much. Gotta go now. Soon I'll be back in the hotel room."
If you are looking for the funny stuff, not so much this time. Kind of hurts.
Sunday, August 18, 2002
Strike Date
Yes, I know the date is August 30 for the baseball strike. I have nothing to add that I haven't said already. Once the players go on strike, I'm sure I will have something to add. Right now, I just don't care.
I need to stop doing these tests
Via Andrea Harris
| You are 31% geek |  | You are a geek liaison, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator.
Normal: Tell our geek we need him to work this weekend.
You [to Geek]: We need more than that, Scotty. You'll have to stay until you can squeeze more outta them engines!
Geek [to You]: I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain, but we need more dilithium crystals!
You [to Normal]: He wants to know if he gets overtime.
|
Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com
I bet the wife would score higher.
Yeah, that'll be strictly enforced after the third game
Cleveland Browns, still feeling embarrassed about that whole bottle throwing thing , gets the city to extend the bottle crackdown. This cracks me up
No open containers will be allowed while tailgating at Browns Stadium, according to NewsChannel5.
The city will implement the rule on Aug. 30. Officials will ticket, arrest or eject those who break the rule that also bans barbecue pits and fireworks, WEWS said.
Tailgaters, however, can drink alcohol from cups. They cannot drink from open bottles or cans.
If you've ever been downtown, you know how big and extensive the municipal lots are, and if you haven't -- just trust me on this. There is a lot of ground to cover. And cover it, they will.
Six off-duty officers have been hired to enforce the new rule.
Six off-duty cops? This is beyond being an ineffectual joke. This is airline security useless.
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