Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Fun With Wacky Rapture Folks!
OK, here's my latest thought: if you're "lucky" enough to get stuck next to any person that actually believes that a giant Jesus will come down and take you away from all of the rest of us heathens one day soon ('cause, you know, the Middle East is unstable....just like a many-times translated book said it would!), then simply say to this person, "Great, i'm glad you will be saved and transported to a wonderful place. Since you can't take any material item with you, can I have the keys to your car and all of your credit cards? Oh, and all of the things in your house.....you won't be needing them either!" See how much trust they have in their faith at that point! Funny thing about all of these TV preachers nattering on and on about the upcoming rapture (see the years 1996, 1998, especially 2000), they still have that 'ol hotline number at the bottom of the screen, still collecting the evil material all-powerful dollar!
OK, here's my latest thought: if you're "lucky" enough to get stuck next to any person that actually believes that a giant Jesus will come down and take you away from all of the rest of us heathens one day soon ('cause, you know, the Middle East is unstable....just like a many-times translated book said it would!), then simply say to this person, "Great, i'm glad you will be saved and transported to a wonderful place. Since you can't take any material item with you, can I have the keys to your car and all of your credit cards? Oh, and all of the things in your house.....you won't be needing them either!" See how much trust they have in their faith at that point! Funny thing about all of these TV preachers nattering on and on about the upcoming rapture (see the years 1996, 1998, especially 2000), they still have that 'ol hotline number at the bottom of the screen, still collecting the evil material all-powerful dollar!
Monday, August 14, 2006
A Comparison of Apples and Orange Alerts...
The NYT this morning reports glowing reviews for the performance of Michael Chertoff during last week's British arrest of near-terrorists in the U.K. As a New Orleanian, I must object to performance comparisons between the week-long destruction of a major American city and the arrest of two dozen criminals by a police force in a foreign country.
From NYT:
"Right after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast last year, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, flew to Atlanta for a conference on bird flu — and then spent months parrying criticism that his department had flunked the first big test of its existence.
Last week, the department confronted a second major test, the arrests in Britain of 24 men suspected of plotting to blow up airliners bound for the United States.
In this case, the initial reviews of Mr. Chertoff’s performance have been largely positive.
... Mr. Chertoff is being praised by some people who once bitterly chastised him or even called for his resignation. “Until this threat, the department had fallen short of the promise that its creation held,” Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in an interview on Sunday. “This time we saw a crisp, confident and competent response, and Secretary Chertoff was clearly front and center.” "
Seems to me the British police were clearly front and center.
I'm grateful that Mr. Secretary performed competently, but is there evidence that he somehow exceeded mere competence? Were there meetings to plan responses to various scenarios? Yes. Shouldn't that sort of planning be happening all the time?
The man did his job, fine, as we're paying him to do it.
Nothing. NOTHING gets Chertoff off the hook for his massive failure on the Gulf Coast one year ago.
The NYT this morning reports glowing reviews for the performance of Michael Chertoff during last week's British arrest of near-terrorists in the U.K. As a New Orleanian, I must object to performance comparisons between the week-long destruction of a major American city and the arrest of two dozen criminals by a police force in a foreign country.
From NYT:
"Right after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast last year, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, flew to Atlanta for a conference on bird flu — and then spent months parrying criticism that his department had flunked the first big test of its existence.
Last week, the department confronted a second major test, the arrests in Britain of 24 men suspected of plotting to blow up airliners bound for the United States.
In this case, the initial reviews of Mr. Chertoff’s performance have been largely positive.
... Mr. Chertoff is being praised by some people who once bitterly chastised him or even called for his resignation. “Until this threat, the department had fallen short of the promise that its creation held,” Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in an interview on Sunday. “This time we saw a crisp, confident and competent response, and Secretary Chertoff was clearly front and center.” "
Seems to me the British police were clearly front and center.
I'm grateful that Mr. Secretary performed competently, but is there evidence that he somehow exceeded mere competence? Were there meetings to plan responses to various scenarios? Yes. Shouldn't that sort of planning be happening all the time?
The man did his job, fine, as we're paying him to do it.
Nothing. NOTHING gets Chertoff off the hook for his massive failure on the Gulf Coast one year ago.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Now... About Those Secret Energy Plan Meetings with the Vice-President...
As all of us complain about ever-rising gas prices, I wonder if we don't silently assume that prices are high because there's something amiss. High because Nigerian supply is disrupted by rebel groups? High because BP took the Prudhoe Bay oil field off line to repair corroded lines? High because there's a shortage of refinery capacity? Listening to the mainstream media, certainly any reasonable person would assume these are some of the contributing causes.
But why should we assume that anything at all is not going to plan? The wealthiest, most informed, most powerful people on the planet held secret meetings in the Citizen's House, paid for with the Citizen's money. And the content of the meetings stayed protected to the Supreme Court. Is this the plan they needed to keep under wraps? That the White House would supply cover for the oil company effort to secure $10 billion quarterly profits? That the White House would encourage the misinformation that distracts well-intentioned Americans from seeing the truth?
Because of the secrecy, we cannot prove that the White House is NOT covering for a plan that secures massive dollar gains for the oil companies.
While I maintain orthodox faith in both the incompetence of the Bush administration and its general malevolence, I also have no doubt about the analytical and predictive powers of oil executives.
$3.03. $3.55. $4.05. $4.67.
"All's well, sir. Just as we planned."
As all of us complain about ever-rising gas prices, I wonder if we don't silently assume that prices are high because there's something amiss. High because Nigerian supply is disrupted by rebel groups? High because BP took the Prudhoe Bay oil field off line to repair corroded lines? High because there's a shortage of refinery capacity? Listening to the mainstream media, certainly any reasonable person would assume these are some of the contributing causes.
But why should we assume that anything at all is not going to plan? The wealthiest, most informed, most powerful people on the planet held secret meetings in the Citizen's House, paid for with the Citizen's money. And the content of the meetings stayed protected to the Supreme Court. Is this the plan they needed to keep under wraps? That the White House would supply cover for the oil company effort to secure $10 billion quarterly profits? That the White House would encourage the misinformation that distracts well-intentioned Americans from seeing the truth?
Because of the secrecy, we cannot prove that the White House is NOT covering for a plan that secures massive dollar gains for the oil companies.
While I maintain orthodox faith in both the incompetence of the Bush administration and its general malevolence, I also have no doubt about the analytical and predictive powers of oil executives.
$3.03. $3.55. $4.05. $4.67.
"All's well, sir. Just as we planned."
