21 Oct 2004
Bush Receives Endorsement From Iran

I'll bet the Prez is just thrilled by this one ...

The head of Iran's security council said Tuesday that the re-election of President Bush (news - web sites) was in Tehran's best interests, despite the administration's axis of evil label, accusations that Iran harbors al-Qaida terrorists and threats of sanctions over the country's nuclear ambitions.

(link) [Yahoo! News]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Scientists fear threat of second wave of 'mad cow' prion infection

Oh boy - just what we need! Not!

Leaders in science, public policy and public health will discuss the "hidden" nature of TSEs, specifically "mad cow" disease and vCJD, its human form; signals that vCJD is not a disease in decline but in a period of incubation with the possibility of a global second wave.

(link) [Medical News Today]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Bad Chicken Day

Well, we're down to 203 chickens. One drowned today, in the stock tank. Stupid chickens ... I fished three others out in time today, and both Kris and I have grabbed others in the past weeks that have fallen in, but they seem strangely drawn to teetering on the edge of the tank, only to fall in.

It has become nearly impossible for me to move in the paddocks when the chicks are out - they think of me as either "mom" or "god" (and how much of a difference is there, really?) and swarm around me. It's tough to walk with 200 chickens clustering around your feet, pecking at your jeans, shitting on your shoes, chirping, clucking and peeping. I can't really muck out the coop: they just won't stay out of the way long enough. So I shovel as much shit as I can, and put down new straw and shavings to keep the little bastards dry. There's gonna be hell to pay for this eventually, though. Once they're all in my freezer, it's gonna take me two days, at least, to get all of the accumulated shit and straw out to the compost pile.

Mercifully, it's been cooler, so the smell is tolerable. But chicken shit gets very slick when it can't dry out, and we've been raining for most of the past week. I only rolled in it once today, and I count myself lucky.

But I ask you: how many other guys spend the morning in a high level meeting designing document management software, and the afternoon wrestling 200 six week old chickens in a barn full of bird shit? And enjoy the afternoon, frustrations and all, far more than the morning?

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

An American in London

I have never had the pleasure of visiting the continent which birthed my ancestors. But I still find this article, An American in London, hard to believe - or swallow.

If true, and it has a ring of truth to it, then things are alot worse than I suspected. But really, how different are the situations the author describes from the daily diatribes I hear on the streets here, about "cheese eating surrender monkeys" and "weenie-spined limeys"? True, I've never seen the kind of personal, verbal attacks she describes, but then again, Boone County, Indiana doesn't get much of the cross Atlantic tourist trade...

Has the vitrol in American politics seeped overseas? Do most Europeans really think Americans are naught but a bunch of Bible-thumping Bubbas? Do most Americans really see Europe as a has-been continent of tree hugging pacifists? I can't believe that - I don't want to believe that.

With Putin endorsing Bush, and most of Eastern Europe standing with the US in major foreign policy issues, are we seeing a realignment of global power? Are we watching history in the making, such as occured in the period from 1820 to 1870, when nearly all major alliances changed?

I suppose we'll find out. It brings to mind the old Chinese curse I keep hearing about: "May you live in interesting times."

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Professional Offshoring

Secular Blasphemy has a link this morning to this article from the Washington Post on folks from the US taking a trip to India for cheaper medical care.

Reading this, I remembered reading a similar piece from the BBC some months ago, and, like Jan, I gotta wonder when it's gonna catch on big with the insurance companies.

Once it does you can bet there'll be a law passed prohibiting insurance companies from paying for overseas procedures, which will, of course, be impossible to really enforce, but which will be rammed thru Congress by the AMA and other powerful lobbies. Just like lawyer's can't be offshored thanks to the bar associations.

I would oppose such legislation bitterly, and in fact have fired off a letter to my local US representative urging the government to allow foreign lawyers to dispense legal advice in the US, as long as they can pass the same bar exam that US lawyers have to pass, regardless of physical location. I'm taking this position on the grounds that "what's good for the goose is good for the gander". If the auto workers, programmers and other working stiffs have to compete in the new "global economy", then I see no reason why the upper-crust of American professions shouldn't have to do so as well.

Of course, I do have an ulterior motive. If offshoring "professionals" is ever actually allowed, you will suddenly see both major parties rushing to repeal all so-called "free trade" legislation, their campaign coffers swollen by soon to be offshored doctors, lawyers and CEO's. And perhaps, just perhaps, that will stimulate a discussion of fair trade, benefitting all of us.

But I'm not gonna hold my breath. And I am gonna keep feeding my chickens.

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

No casualties? White House disputes Robertson comment

What was Pat Robertson thinking? Why would he say such a thing - even if it was true? And I gotta assume it's not accurate, because even Dubya isn't that dumb... so the question comes back to Robertson, and his motivation. I can't figure this one out at all, even given his wingnut comments on the State Department last year.

A White House spokesman denied Wednesday that President Bush told Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson that he did not expect casualties from the invasion of Iraq.

(link) [CNN]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link