According to a NY Times article, Dubya & the gang are going to time his '04 nomination close to 9/11:
The convention, to be held in New York City, will be the latest since the Republican Party was founded in 1856, and Mr. Bush's advisers said they chose the date so the event would flow into the commemorations of the third anniversary of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
And they wonder why they catch flak about manipulating the "war on terrorism" for political gain.
Got a satellite dish installed last Friday, the first step in wriggling free from the cable company. Step two will be installing DSL, which should happen this week. Why the changes? Well, they're raising the rates for one thing. For another, the cable company sent a heads up a couple weeks ago hinting at a rate change, but when I dutifully called the 1-800 number a machine told me I wouldn't be affected. And finally, I'm still annoyed that when @home went kerplooie they cut my network connection speed drastically but kept charging me the same rate.
So...bye bye cable company!
This one (just click through the ad & get over it) suggests that the Saudis brokered a deal to get Saddam & co. out of Iraq. Since I feel like playing along today, I'll suggest something the article left out. By sneaking Saddam into Mecca, not only does he get out of the way, but by disappearing him Dubya & the gang can scream bloody murder at Syria without having to worry about them actually producing anyone, and Saudi Arabia keeps the heat off a little longer.
Do I believe this? Not really. But it does make for a fun theory.
Been hearing about a couple polls recently looking at whether folks in the US think tax cuts are a good idea and whether their taxes are too high. Apparently a majority think their taxes are too high, but at the same time a majority thinks tax cuts aren't necessarily a good idea at the moment.
The question I have is "too high for what?" I'm sure we would all like to have more money in our pocket, but I think the real question here is what are we getting for the money we give to Uncle Sam (or to our state and local governments)? And a related question: how do taxes fit in with the rest of our expenses? Even in the best of times, it seems our public institutions are strapped for cash, and as a result we get mediocre schools, underpaid cops, bad roads, the DMV (speaking collectively) from hell...the list goes on & on. It's hard to get excited about handing over our hard-earned money when the benefits we get are so hard to see. At the same time, there are a number of expenses that we have to pay for in addition to our tax burden, such as health insurance, or in our case a streetlight whose electricity we have to pay for that doesn't even illuminate a fraction of the street in front of our house.
So are my taxes too high? Well, our income is largely dependent on state and federal dollars...so I would say, "No they're not, but for Chrissakes Dubya, quit nickel & diming education and if you want to bomb someone hold a friggin' bake sale.
Apparently they're now talking about a "rolling end" to the war-- meaning that there probably won't be a formal surrender & fighting could go on for a while. While I can see how this might be valid from a military standpoint, the political side scares me a little. Think about it-- commentators and politicians are currently hammering any sign of dissent with charges of "treason," "not supporting the troops," and/or "not supporting the commander-in-chief in time of war." Worse, many Americans seem to buy these attacks, effectively shutting off vital debate. So here's the thing: if the war doesn't really have a definite end, then these same conditions will exist indefinitely.
*Sigh* I guess Orwell was 20 years too soon...
