I have a blog for computer and Web information. I’ve just switched it over to WordPress and am preparing to use it more frequently than of late. Perhaps you are interested in such things. mjh
Indonesian villagers blame magic, not flu
If there were a village of atheists (hard to imagine), they might well react to natural events with their own brand of ignorance — we’re all ignorant of something, and fear of the unknown is a very human quality. Still, one should note that religion and faith are doing nothing in the following case to counter ignorance and fear. mjh
Indonesian villagers blame magic, not flu
Some neighbors insist, however, that bird flu is not to blame. They are convinced black magic is at work, that ghosts now haunt their quiet Christian community of about 1,500 people.
Many are too scared to even pass by the family’s houses, and some who live nearby are awakened by nightmares that they will be the next to die.
“We are so afraid just to step into that house,” said a 37-year-old woman who identified herself only as Sembining. “We can’t tell what we’re afraid of – we’re just afraid.”
War and Peace
At first, I liked the notion of a Peace Department as yin to the Pentagon’s yang. But, we have a peace department; it’s called the State Department. On the other hand, I wholly endorse the notion of returning the Defense Department’s original name: the War Department. mjh
SILVER CITY— The Silver City Town Council has adopted a resolution calling for the federal government to form a U.S. Department of Peace.
The council voted 3-1 on Tuesday night in favor of the resolution, which asks Congress to establish a Cabinet-level department geared toward peaceful resolution of conflicts around the world.
The resolution encourages Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M.— whose congressional district includes Silver City— to sign on as sponsors of a measure introduced in Congress last year for a Department of Peace.
hollyhocks
conservative stamp on the courts
Bush Aide Confirmed to U.S. Bench
White House aide Brett M. Kavanaugh won Senate confirmation as an appeals judge yesterday after a three-year wait, a new victory for President Bush in a drive to place a more conservative stamp on the courts. …
“Mr. Kavanaugh is a political operative,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), a member of the Judiciary Committee. “I can say with confidence that Mr. Kavanaugh would be the youngest, least experienced and most partisan appointee to the court in decades.” …
Kavanaugh was an assistant to independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr during the impeachment probe of President Bill Clinton and worked on behalf of the Bush campaign during the election recount in 2000.
the cult of multiculturalism?
[Colorado Republican Rep. Tom] Tancredo, like many on the right — from social conservatives to neoconservatives—bases his restrictionism less on economic reasons than on cultural and racial ones.
“The threat to the United States comes from two things: the act of immigration combined with the cult of multiculturalism,” argues Tancredo. “We will never be able to win in the clash of civilizations if we don’t know who we are. If Western civilization succumbs to the siren song of multiculturalism, I believe we are finished.” …
“I believe that what we are fighting here is not just a small group of people who have hijacked a religion, but it is a civilization bent on destroying ours. Radical Islam has been the foe of Christiandom for centuries. The most serious foe of Christiandom.” [mjh: it WAS a smaller group of people until we blundered royally in Iraq.]
“This combination, massive immigration and radical multiculturalism,” warned Tancredo, “is a prescription for our own demise.”
It Helps to Have a Powerful Friend
The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Bush’s Personal Aide To Enroll at Business School By PARAS D. BHAYANI, Crimson Staff Writer
A 26-year-old college dropout who carries President Bush’s breath mints and makes him peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches will follow in his boss’s footsteps this fall when he enrolls at Harvard Business School (HBS).
Though it is rare for HBS—or any other professional or graduate school—to admit a student who does not have an undergraduate degree, admissions officers made an exception for Blake Gottesman, who for four years has served as special assistant and personal aide to Bush.
Gottesman, a Texas native who attended Claremont-McKenna College in California for one year, has long had ties to the Bush family. He dated the president’s daughter, Jenna Bush, nearly ten years ago when he attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal School of Austin.
After completing his freshman year at Claremont in 1999, he left to join the Bush presidential campaign and later served as a junior aide to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. In February 2002, he became the president’s personal assistant.
In his current role, Gottesman performs a wide range of duties, from dog-sitting the president’s Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, to carrying the president’s speeches and giving him the “two-minute warning” before a speech begins. …
[HBS spokesman James] Aisner also pointed out to The Economist that Harvard would surely admit applicants like Bill Gates and Michael Dell, both of whom are college dropouts.
But the often-snarky British weekly noted: “Needless to say, holding the president’s hand-sanitizer is a far cry from heading a Fortune 500 company.”
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See mjh’s blog — It’s Who You Know That Matters
“Karl and I have been close friends for 25 years. So, why wouldn’t I write to him? He’s the guy I know best in the administration.” read more …