Darkstar

Post from Narita

I thought it would be fun to post from Narita airport. I am on my way to Bangkok to visit family and have a 6 hour layover in Japan. Took a nice shower at the United lounge. Lots of time in the air, but should get into Bangkok 10 pm a day later. Amazing how this traveling gig works! Still can not believe we can fly those beasts in the air.

What does $87 billion buy?

Michael Moore sent this to a few of his intimate friends. You probably got a copy but if not...

WHAT WOULD $87 BILLION BUY?

If you can't get through this list without wanting to throw up, I'll understand. But pass it around anyway. This is the nail in the Iraq War's coffin for any sane, thinking individual, regardless of their political stripe (thanks to TomPaine.com and the Center for American Progress)...

To get some perspective, here are some real-life comparisons about what $87 billion means:

$87 Billion Is More Than The Combined Total Of All State Budget Deficits In The United States. The Bush administration proposed absolutely zero funds to help states deal with these deficits, despite the fact that their tax cuts drove down state revenues. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]

Arnold is Governor

As much as it sucks that California spent $77 million on the recall, we can hold out some hope that Arnold might do some good things for the environment. I received this email today from veteran environmental campaigner Mark Palmer

I think we should give Arnold Swartzenegger a break and see what he does.

Gray Davis was no environmentalist. When he first came to office, he shunted good environmental people into low-profile jobs as his appointees, where they would not make trouble. When his new Secretary for Resources spoke up against a court settlement early in her tenure on a water issue, Governor Davis publicly took back her objections and chastised her for doing her job. She has been shut up ever since. A couple of friends of mine were appointed to the California Fish and Game Commission, which has little power. The Director of Fish & Game, who DOES have power, was given to a career bureaucrat from the State Lands Commission, with strict orders to keep things quiet.

Language of emails

Ever wonder how to put emotions into email? Here's a site with tons of cool emoticons and other ascii based symbols of you feelings.
http://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/office/emails.htm
Here are some examples:
:)                              
smile

:-)                             
smile (with a nose)

:o)                             
another smile

 :D                             
smile/laughing/big grin 

:-|                              
grim face

Net Advisory Net (NAN)

Dean for America: Net Advisory Net (NAN)is a collection of advisors working with one other to frame Internet Policy issues for Governor Dean and his staff, and recommend approaches towards technology issues for a Dean Administration. The Dean Net Advisory Team will present to the Governor and his team diverse and highly-informed opinions concerning the Internet and its potential impact upon society.

Anything into Oil

Anything into Oil is a great read describing a new process for turning waste into oil, minerals and such. I didn't think it was real, but wow... you got to read this.

The Conscious Consumer

The Conscious Consumer is a new website by the Center for a New American Dream that helps Americans consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life and promote social justice.

Blog to k-log

Here's an interesting article discussing the use of blogging as a knowledge management (k-log) tool in corporations.

Insidious Traitor

This is the best article I've seen yet on the White House scandal.  Interesting to know that Novak and Rove have been through this before in '92. 

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9009

The Most Insidious Of Traitors 

"Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors." -- George Herbert Walker Bush, 1999

Karl Rove, senior political advisor to George W. Bush, is a very powerful man. That is not to say he has never been in trouble. Rove was fired from the 1992 Bush Sr. campaign for trashing Robert Mosbacher, Jr., who was the chief fundraiser for the campaign and an avowed Bush loyalist. Rove accomplished this trashing of Mosbacher by planting a negative story with columnist Bob Novak. The campaign figured out that Karl had done the dirty deed, and he was given his walking papers.

Demonstrably, Rove is back in the saddle again. The January 2003 edition of Esquire magazine carried an article by Ron Suskind which quoted comments from John DiIulio, a domestic policy advisor to the White House who had just retired from his post. On October 24, DiIulio had sent a letter to Suskind describing what he had seen while working for the Bush administration. The meat of the letter described an administration far, far more interested in raw political triangulation and ruthless spin than in actual policy and government functionality. Some excerpts from DiIulio's letter:

KRUGMAN ON TAX CUTS

Jon Stahl posted a piece by Paul Krugman on a long, outstanding piece on why the "tax cut con" has endured for 25 years, and what its real costs are. Krugman asks, "How did we reach this point? What are the origins of the antitax crusade? And where is it taking us?"

There is also a great interview with Paul Krugman at Calpundit that you should read.

Click on the link below to read on...