:: blame the extended gestation.... ::

:: Saturday, October 25, 2003 ::

Diogenes of Sinope [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]: "Various accounts are given concerning the manner and time of his death. It seems most probable that he died at Corinth, of mere decay, in the ninetieth year of his age and in the 114th Olympiad. A column of Parian marble, terminating in the figure of a dog, was raised over his tomb. His fellow-townsmen of Sinope also erected brazen statues in memory of the philosopher."

:: Jim Nichols 10/25/2003 07:58:00 PM [+] ::
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Ethics of Isocrates, Aristotle, and Diogenes by Sanderson Beck: " Diogenes died either from eating raw octopus, being bitten by a dog, or from holding his breath."

:: Jim Nichols 10/25/2003 07:50:00 PM [+] ::
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The Century Foundation - Master List: "However often pundits and academic claim that the national government is like a business, it simply is not a business. "

:: Jim Nichols 10/24/2003 05:31:00 PM [+] ::
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Review | Slow Monkeys and Other Stories by Jim Nichols

:: Jim Nichols 10/24/2003 04:52:00 PM [+] ::
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Economic Reporting Review By Dean Baker October 20: "Liberal Think Tanks
Notion Building
Matt Bai
New York Times, October 12, 2003, Magazine p 88
http://www.freecongress.org/misc/031012notionbuilding.asp
This article examines the plans for the Center for American Progress (CAP), a new Democratic think tank. At one point the article notes that no one at CAP has an alternative to the current Social Security system which it describes as leading the United States to 'an inevitable fiscal crisis.' The Social Security trustees projections, which are widely accepted as the basis of the debate over Social Security, show that the program can pay all benefits for the next 40 years with no changes whatsoever, and that a tax increase equal to 1.86 percent of payroll would be sufficient to keep the program fully solvent for the next seventy five years. This tax increase is approximately the same size as tax increases put in place in each of the decades from the fifties to the eighties.
The article also describes CAP as being constrained in its agenda by the concerns of interest groups like teacher unions and the AARP. It contrasts such constraints with the supposedly unfettered thinking of right-wing think tanks. It is not clear that right-wing think tanks really have not been constrained by powerful interest groups. For example, true market oriented conservatives should oppose government granted monopolies like patents and copyrights. However, right-wing think tanks have often received large amounts of money from media and entertainment companies, as well as the pharmaceutical industry, all of whom are heavily dependent on these government monopolies for their survival."

:: Jim Nichols 10/24/2003 11:32:00 AM [+] ::
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Rumsfeld's Pentagon Papers - His leaked memo is the most astonishing document of this war so far. By Fred Kaplan: "Rumsfeld's Pentagon Papers
His leaked memo is the most astonishing document of this war so far.
By Fred Kaplan"

:: Jim Nichols 10/24/2003 11:00:00 AM [+] ::
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Taking Bush Personally By Michael Kinsley: "Taking Bush Personally"

:: Jim Nichols 10/24/2003 10:59:00 AM [+] ::
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Taking Bush Personally By Michael Kinsley: "Taking Bush Personally"

:: Jim Nichols 10/24/2003 10:59:00 AM [+] ::
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halliburton memo

:: Jim Nichols 10/24/2003 10:54:00 AM [+] ::
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Misleader.org: Daily Mislead: "Internal Email Reveals Halliburton's Strategy to Combat Accusations of Overcharging the Government"

:: Jim Nichols 10/24/2003 10:52:00 AM [+] ::
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for Edward [Said], injustice was to be rectified, not rationalized. I think that it was, for him, surpassingly a matter of dignity. People may lose a war or a struggle or be badly led or poorly advised, but they must not be humiliated or treated as alien or less than human. --Christopher Hitchens

:: Jim Nichols 10/23/2003 09:47:00 PM [+] ::
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Yahoo! News - AP: U.S. Raid Nets Whole Iraqi Village

It sounds like Vietnam more and more every day.

:: Jim Nichols 10/23/2003 03:19:00 PM [+] ::
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"breath is life
i was thinking about my tattoos today
on my left arm, not the bottom tattoo, but one up from that
i have inked under the surface of my skin for the rest of my life
the word prana in the nagari script of the ancient Indian (dots, not
feathers) language Sanskrit
this word is interesting- it means both "life" and "breath"
when i die, this ink will remain in my ashes"
--tonja

:: Jim Nichols 10/23/2003 03:15:00 PM [+] ::
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Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Inside the resistance: "Inside the resistance

Popular anger is forging an alliance between diverse strands of Iraq's guerrilla movement "

:: Jim Nichols 10/23/2003 02:52:00 PM [+] ::
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Gary Leupp: Israel, Syria and Stage Four in the Terror War: "Stage Four in the Terror War"

:: Jim Nichols 10/23/2003 02:46:00 PM [+] ::
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Misleader.org: Daily Mislead: "Nonpartisan Studies Dispute Basic Assumptions of Bush's Plan to Reduce Number of Uninsured"

:: Jim Nichols 10/23/2003 02:32:00 PM [+] ::
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Elliott Smith, 34, Rock Songwriter and Singer, Dies

:: Jim Nichols 10/23/2003 02:27:00 PM [+] ::
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A physicist was crossing a road one-day when a frog
called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn
into a beautiful princess." He bent over, picked up
the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up
again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into
a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one
week." The physicist took the frog out of his pocket,
smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog
then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into
a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you
want." Again the physicist took the frog out, smiled
at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the
frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a
beautiful princess, and that I'll stay with you for a
week and do anything you want. Why
won't you kiss me?" The physicist said, "Look, I don't
have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now
that's cool."

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 09:10:00 PM [+] ::
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An architect, an artist and a physicist were
discussing whether it was better to spend time with
the wife or a mistress. The architect said he enjoyed
time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an
enduring relationship. The artist said he enjoyed time
with his mistress, because the passion and mystery he
found there. The physicist said, "I like both."
"Both?"
"Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will
each assume you are spending time with the other
woman, and you can go to the lab and get some work
done."

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 09:09:00 PM [+] ::
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To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the
pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the physicist,
the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 09:07:00 PM [+] ::
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Two physics students are crossing the campus when one
said, "Where did you get such a great bike?" The other
replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday minding
my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this
bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all
her clothes and said, "Take what you want." The second
one nodded approvingly, "Good choice; the clothes
probably wouldn't have fit."

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 09:06:00 PM [+] ::
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For the kids? Revolution? Educational? I thought we
were gonna have a glam rock band? --Eagle

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:52:00 PM [+] ::
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And what of self-induced pain and suffering?
"Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence
and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great
sadness on Earth."
-- Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:46:00 PM [+] ::
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"It is only necessary to adopt the prevailing doctrine, probably close to a historical universal, that
OUR leaders are good (whoever WE happen to be), though they may make
mistakes out of naivete and misjudgment, and that carries over to their
associates and allies; while those they target are BAD and hence undeserving." -Noam Chomsky

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:42:00 PM [+] ::
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Assumptions are the termites of relationships. -Henry Winkler

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:38:00 PM [+] ::
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"Strengthen me by sympathizing with my strength, not my weakness."
-- Amos Bronson Alcott

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:35:00 PM [+] ::
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From: "Pete Smith"
>
> Noam,
> Paul Krugman in his book " The Great Unraveling" say's
that
> (using a term from one of Kissinger's early books) " a
revolutionary
> force" has taken over Washington. He explains that the radical
right
> "revolutionaries" do not see the system as legit and so they will
break
> any rule or law to accomplish their revolutionary goals which
partially
> are militarism, destruction of social programs (society?),
regressive
> taxation and Wealthy Class control.
> In other words the Bush Gang and the Ultra Right are taking
> actions that are Not Accepted by the Political powers of the US.
> Do you think that the radical ultra right are a revolutionary force
> that
> is surprising or conquering the establishment?

Reply from NC,

One can debate terminology, but his basic observation seems to me
correct. That's why there has been such extraordinary elite
opposition
to
the national security strategy and the "test case" in Iraq, to the
fiscal
policies designed to drive the country to a fiscal train wreck so as
to
unravel the hated progressive legislation of the past century and
leave
a
super-powerful state committed to the interests of those who require
and
deserve protection and welfare: the rich and the powerful.

On the other hand, even elite elements that fear the consequences of
the
statist reactionaries who have a very narrow grip on power are likely
to
support them in a showdown -- an election -- putting aside
longer-term
concerns (like whether the species will survive very long, or there
will be
an economic catastrophe) in favor of shorter-term gain, thanks to
lavish
tax cuts for the rich, sharply regressive taxation, cut back in
social
services for most of the population, etc. Nothing new about that.

Noam Chomsky

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:33:00 PM [+] ::
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Ain't that the truth
"I don't necessarily agree with everything I say." -Marshall McLuhan

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:31:00 PM [+] ::
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Federal Policies Contribute to the Severity of the State Fiscal Crisis, 10/17/03: "FEDERAL POLICIES CONTRIBUTE
TO THE SEVERITY OF THE STATE FISCAL CRISIS
By Iris J. Lav"

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:12:00 PM [+] ::
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Iraq: Civilian Deaths Need U.S. Investigation (Human Rights Watch Press release, New York, October 21, 2003): "The U.S. military is failing to conduct proper investigations into civilian deaths resulting from the excessive or indiscriminate use of force in Baghdad, Human Rights Watch charged in a new report released today. "

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:10:00 PM [+] ::
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United States: Mentally Ill Mistreated in Prison (Human Rights Watch Press release, New York, October 22, 2003): "One in six U.S. prisoners is mentally ill. Many of them suffer from serious illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. There are three times as many men and women with mental illness in U.S. prisons as in mental health hospitals.
The rate of mental illness in the prison population is three times higher than in the general population.
According to the 215-page report, Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness, prisons are dangerous and damaging places for mentally ill people. Other prisoners victimize and exploit them. Prison staff often punish mentally ill offenders for symptoms of their illness – such as being noisy or refusing orders, or even self-mutilation and attempted suicide. Mentally ill prisoners are more likely than others to end up housed in especially harsh conditions, such as isolation, that can push them over the edge into acute psychosis. "

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:09:00 PM [+] ::
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HRW: Ill Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness: I. SUMMARY: "Somewhere between two and three hundred thousand men and women in U.S. prisons suffer from mental disorders, including such serious illnesses as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. An estimated seventy thousand are psychotic on any given day. Yet across the nation, many prison mental health services are woefully deficient, crippled by understaffing, insufficient facilities, and limited programs. All too often seriously ill prisoners receive little or no meaningful treatment. They are neglected, accused of malingering, treated as disciplinary problems."

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:07:00 PM [+] ::
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A faith in others vs. security | csmonitor.com

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:06:00 PM [+] ::
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A faith in others vs. security | csmonitor.com

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:06:00 PM [+] ::
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Burundi peace in African hands | csmonitor.com: "For almost 10 years now, this tiny nation squeezed between Rwanda, Tanzania, and Congo has been gripped by civil war, but forgotten by the world.
The United Nations will not deploy a multilateral peacekeeping force here, saying there is yet no peace to keep. And no world power has a big enough stake to come here, as the French did in Congo and the Americans did in Liberia."

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:03:00 PM [+] ::
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Israel defiant in wake of UN vote against barrier | csmonitor.com

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:02:00 PM [+] ::
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Democrats forge new paths in primary race | csmonitor.com

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 08:01:00 PM [+] ::
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Misleader.org: Daily Mislead

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 07:56:00 PM [+] ::
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foxreno.com - Entertainment - Songwriter Elliot Smith Found Dead, Apparent Suicide

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 04:41:00 PM [+] ::
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New York in Reverse - Elliott Smith's idea of heaven was modest, like everything else about the songwriter. By Alex Abramovich: "'George Jones would be singing all the time. It would be like New York in reverse. People would be nice to each other for no reason at all. And it would smell good.' "

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 04:36:00 PM [+] ::
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From Baghdad to Manila - Another lousy analogy for the occupation of Iraq. By Fred Kaplan: "From Baghdad to Manila
Another lousy analogy for the occupation of Iraq."

The comparison between Iraq and the Philippines may be more accurate than the one between Iraq and West Germany, but it is hardly more comforting. In fact, it is so discomfiting—it implies such a dismal forecast for America's occupation in Iraq over the next several years (for that matter, the next few decades)—that it's hard to imagine Bush would have made such a remark if he'd understood its full implications.

It is true, as Bush noted, that the Filipinos endured 300 years of Spanish rule and that they achieved independence in 1946. But Spain ended its rule in 1898. What happened during the 48-year unmentioned interregnum? Nothing pleasant, if the point of the inquiry is to seek parallels with Iraq after Saddam.

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 04:30:00 PM [+] ::
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Promise Keepers? By Eric Umansky: "Miso Selfish ... A front-page piece in the Times notices that a New York City corporate lawyer, unhappy with a recent takeout sushi order, asked a paralegal to research other nearby raw fish options. The result spanned three pages, included eight footnotes and two exhibits (menus). Hope your maki rocks, the paralegal concluded. Or as the report stated, 'I would hope you find the report helpful in choosing the restaurant from which your dinner will be ordered on a going-forward basis.'"

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 04:17:00 PM [+] ::
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USATODAY.com

well duh...

With respect to global terrorism, the record since Septermber 11th seems to be:

We are having mixed results with Al Qaida, although we have put considerable pressure on them — nonetheless, a great many remain at large.

Is our current situation such that "the harder we work, the behinder we get"?

:: Jim Nichols 10/22/2003 04:15:00 PM [+] ::
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The New York Review of Books: The Awful Truth

Krugman has been knocking my socks off every week... his writing is witty and his facts make you want to cry. This review is good too...


"The relentless push for cutting the taxes of the well-to-do seems to Krugman to illustrate Bush's 'revolutionary' determination to push a principle to its ultimate conclusion over all sensible opposition. The tax cut was concocted in 1999 when the Clinton budget was running a large surplus, and it was sold in the 2000 campaign as a way to reduce an excessive surplus: money would be given back to the middle class. When the economy faltered and the surplus shrank, the reason for the tax cut had to be adjusted, and it was sold as a short-term stimulant for the economy. Then, as the economy continued to stagnate, it was promoted as essential to long-term growth and job creation. Nor did the start of the war on terror and a record-setting rise in the deficit dampen White House enthusiasm for it."

:: Jim Nichols 10/21/2003 10:42:00 PM [+] ::
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Curtains Ordered for Media Coverage of Returning Coffins (washingtonpost.com): "A White House spokesman said Bush has not attended any memorials or funerals for soldiers killed in action during his presidency as his predecessors had done"
compassionate conservatism at work

:: Jim Nichols 10/21/2003 10:36:00 PM [+] ::
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POLITICS: Stifled Arab World Traumatised by Outside Forces - Study

I feel like a jackass for just linking this stuff and not commenting myself. I'll work on that...

:: Jim Nichols 10/21/2003 10:25:00 PM [+] ::
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TheKCRAChannel.com - News - Protesters Angry Over Letter That Calls Students 'Bitchy'

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 10:15:00 PM [+] ::
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TheKCRAChannel.com - News - Conservatives Defend General's Comments On Religion

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 10:13:00 PM [+] ::
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FOX40.com | KTXL | Sacremento's WB | Despite promises, Schwarzenegger makes no requests of Bush

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 10:02:00 PM [+] ::
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"I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty
minutes. It involves Russia."
-- Woody Allen

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 09:44:00 PM [+] ::
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But man, proud man, / Drest in a little brief authority, / Most
ignorant of what he's most assured, / His glassy essence, like an angry ape, /
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven / As make the angels weep.
-William Shakespeare

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 09:39:00 PM [+] ::
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Elite U.S. Unit Killed Hundreds of Vietnamese Civilians, Report Says (washingtonpost.com)

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 09:35:00 PM [+] ::
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Top 10 Activist Campuses

California Community Colleges, #2 baby!

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 08:54:00 PM [+] ::
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The message - not the messenger - is Democrats' problem | csmonitor.com: "Since 1972, National Elections Studies polls show Americans labeling themselves liberal have never topped 23 percent."

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 08:43:00 PM [+] ::
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For tough places, a softer US line | csmonitor.com: "As the post-Iraq-war era sets in, the Bush administration is approaching the world with a little less swagger and a little more open arms. "

Why is it that Republicans go into I.R. with the whole get tough image. Then they have to go back on all that rhetoric (e.g. north korea). Isn't it better to not try to act tougher than you are so that you don't harm your future credibility?

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 08:39:00 PM [+] ::
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"The argument for a progressive tax has to do with elementary
decency. There's no need to reframe the point, badly, in technical
terminology."

--Noam Chomsky

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 08:27:00 PM [+] ::
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Tribes inflamed by Qaeda hunt | csmonitor.com

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 06:50:00 AM [+] ::
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ZNet Commentary: My Country Is At War With Palestine

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 06:45:00 AM [+] ::
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The tears of strangers are only water. -Russian proverb

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 06:41:00 AM [+] ::
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Foreign Affairs - Remaking the World: Bush and the Neoconservatives - Joshua Micah Marshall: "In the old days, one could often find a certain sort of leftist who would insist that socialism or communism had not really failed, because it had never actually been tried. One crucial legacy of the Bush revolution is that it will not be possible to say something similar about neoconservatism."

wait... I still say that!

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 06:35:00 AM [+] ::
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Foreign Affairs - That Was Then: Allen W. Dulles on the Occupation of Germany - Allen W. Dulles

"As soon as you attempt to get Germany to tick and to make arrangements for a government, the lack of men becomes apparent at once. Most men of the caliber required suffer a political taint. When we discover someone whose ability and politics are alike acceptable, we usually find as we did in one case that the man has been living abroad for the past ten years and is hopelessly out of touch with the local situation. We have already found out that you can't run railroads without taking in some Party members."

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 06:07:00 AM [+] ::
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Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: October 19, 2003 - October 25, 2003 Archives: "We hear quite a bit about all the schools reopening. But how many of them ever closed? Certainly, there were schools before the war, right?"

My dad and I were talking about this the other day. CNN had this report on and it was showing a class room and the reporter was saying something about "before the war these children had to honor Saddam Hussein; now they learn algebra." And we're like, well shit it's not like they weren't learning algebra before the war!

:: Jim Nichols 10/20/2003 06:02:00 AM [+] ::
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Meme Watch: Return of the Lucky Duckies - The Journal re-enters the tax-the-poor fray. By Timothy Noah

:: Jim Nichols 10/19/2003 08:23:00 PM [+] ::
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thehomelessguy.net: "I was a quiet kid, and because of this I was considered a good kid, a mature and smart kid. But, I was quiet only because of my anxieties. I had a fear of the anxieties, the anxieties made me feel bad, so I took whatever measures necessary to prevent the anxieties from coming on - I did what I could to avoid certain social situations."

:: Jim Nichols 10/19/2003 06:32:00 PM [+] ::
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I think we should put a tax on perscription medicine advertising to fund ways to fix the drug cost problem cause perscription drugs don't actually need to be advertised--thats what doctors are for. Or is this part of the Republican privitizing plan since there won't be ways for everyone to have a doctor; this way people can still find out about the medicine, see we're good people right?

That was a terrible sentence, someday i'll learn to write.

:: Jim Nichols 10/19/2003 06:17:00 PM [+] ::
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growing illegal trade in pharmaceuticals
U.S. Prescription Drug System Under Attack (washingtonpost.com)

"Americans want their Lipitor," said David B. Nash, a physician who directs the Office of Health Policy and Clinical Outcomes at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. "They want to be able to take it on their way to McDonald's."

:: Jim Nichols 10/19/2003 06:10:00 PM [+] ::
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"'We make war that we may live in peace.'
-- Aristotle (384-322 BC), Greek philosopher"

:: Jim Nichols 10/19/2003 03:45:00 AM [+] ::
...