It’s time for Israel to simply declare the borders for a Palestinian state and be done with it, before it’s too late. Another day, another ill advised act of terror in the middle east, this time caused by the Israelis. Read the MSNBC.com article.
Author: marc
Marc is a software developer, writer, and part-time political know-it-all who currently resides in Texas in the good ol' U.S.A.
No Vote on War?
White House lawyers have concluded that President Bush doesn’t need congressional approval to launch an attack against Iraq. Read the CNN.com story. My high school government class was taught differently. Certainly a congressional, and thus a people’s, mandate is appropriate. The White House’s stance implies either a bluff at Iraq or the possession of intelligence…
Police Officer Fired
In Austin, Texas, the AP reports a police officer has been fired for taping the mouth of a belligerent teenage suspect shut. The suspect was asked repeatedly to “please be quiet”; after he continued his behavior, the officer taped his mouth shut. Sounds like something the boy’s parents should have done long ago. In true…
Islamic Support Dooms Candidates
A kiss of death even more potent than taking money from Enron executives is having Islamic supporters. Read the MSNBC.com article. I suppose it is no surprise given the superficial nature of politics. The Muslims I know personally are fine people; however, the perceived taint of Islamic influence will likely serve to keep their influence…
Forestry Debate
The Western United States are home to some unique natural resources. Some uniquely impressive stands of old growth timber still exist in a pristine state. Logging in these areas has been a sore spot between industry, government, and environmentalists for years. Read a MSNBC.com story regarding the subject. Nearly everyone would agree that we should…
What was the Houston Police department thinking when it arrested 300 people, some of whom were simply trying to get a chili dog at James Coney Island? Read Roma Khanna’s article in the Houston Chronicle. I have no personal knowledge of this area on Saturday night. There may be severe problems in this area that…
Ashcroft’s Constitution
The Houston Chronicle published a great editorial Sunday regarding the overzealous John Ashcroft’s plans to run roughshod over the constitution to pursue “enemy combatants”. The Chronicle doesn’t provide editorial content on-line, unfortunately. Even to a lay person, Ashcroft’s proposals are extreme and clearly infringe on the constitutional rights of American citizens. Nonetheless, it has fallen…
Brazil and the IMF
Brazil is going to get a big infusion of American support via the IMF during the next year. Read the IMF news release. An NPR report on the subject left little doubt the Brazilians feel economic policy strings attached to the loans are unfair, apparently feeling they are entitled to borrow another $30 billion dollars…
Culture Shock
Morning Edition on NPR had an interesting story regarding the town of Fremont, CA today. Unfortunately, NPR doesn’t offer free links to their material. So read the original story in the Mercury News for background. Indian immigrants were upset because the city council denied them a permit to hold a festival drawing attendance twice the…
Cheaper, Slower Broadband
Broadband access to the Internet may be getting cheaper, but at a price: speed. Read the CNN.com article. As the article says, e-mail users will be happy with this speed, as will most casual web surfers, for now. ‘Throttling’ bandwidth also helps ISPs manage their networks my reducing stress on the system. But I’ll never…