2002.07.30
U.S. Exploring Baghdad Strike as Iraq Option. For a second, it almost sounded like a good idea. And I have to admit, I've underestimated our military capabilities in the past...but still, attacking right on the most heavily defended parts of Iraq? And in the cities? I think our record has been more so-so when it comes to urban warfare. And it still begs the question, should we be doing this? Do we have the "right", and is it even in our best interests?
While I'm on the Bush griping...NPR had a brief commentary by Matt Miller on Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill (unfortunately I'm not sure if there's a link to just that segment alone.) It seems like O'Neill was an outstanding and upright CEO, especially compared to Bush and Chaney...he went to the struggling aluminum company Alcoa and increased its stock price 8 times over with a huge commitment to worker safety and enhancing real value, taking a below-median salary and stock, so his fate was tied to the company, and telling his finance officers that he need to be and to be seen as above-board all the way. Anyway, he had what sounds like a brilliant plan for corporate reform, establish a formal "scale of 1-to-5" ranking of accounting quality, and make any given company's rating well known...companies will be falling all over themselves to get the highest rating. But Bush et al. didn't like it. It seems to be that there's a parallel (or rather a contradiction) between his rejection of this idea and his support of increased testing in public schools... "is our children learning" indeed, but our companies may not be.
Link of the Moment
Dr. Fun is the oldest web-based cartoon...I remember seeing them thumbtacked to the walls of the computer labs in the mid-90s. Kind of a decendent of the Far Side, but with the occassional pop-geek-culture-twist. That page has a selection of fan favorites, (The "Here's one..." links) or if you're in a hurry, here's my favorite from that selection.
