AMZN

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WMDs

Did you know that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Sure, they exist. We know this because Dave Gaubatz says so. He describes the sites where these WMDs were stored, explaining that three of them were bunkers that were buried 20 to 30 feet beneath the Euphrates river. He continues that they had been constructed through building dams which were removed after the huge subterranean vaults had been excavated so that these were concealed beneath the river bed. He states, "There was no doubt, with so much effort having gone into hiding these constructions, that something very important was buried there".
Well, of course. It's impossible for these bunkers to be used for anything else, so they must be storage for WMDs.
You may ask what happened to the WMDs stored there. Well, I'll tell you. The WMDs in these sites were excavated by Iraqis and Syrians. They were moved, with the help of the Russians, to Syria.
Of course, all reports of this have mysteriously gone missing and the databases were "inadvertently destroyed".

Melanie Phillips writes:

The Republicans won’t touch this because it would reveal the incompetence of the Bush administration in failing to neutralise the danger of Iraqi WMD. The Democrats won’t touch it because it would show President Bush was right to invade Iraq in the first place. It is an axis of embarrassment.

Of course, this is all true. They wouldn't print it if it weren't.

HR x 4.

The yanks gave up 4 home runs in one game. That's not the amazing part. The amazing part is that all four home runs were hit by consecutive batters in consecutive at-bats. It fills me with a great warmth and hapiness to read about yankee's losses.

Prescription Drugs

I read this interesting article by Glenn Greenwald about prescription drugs.

He compares the doctor-patient privilege to the attorney-client privilege. I thought the most interesting point was that the attorney is an advisor. However, the ultimate decision is left to the client. The doctor's role is more parental - in that he can make the decision regarding a prescription drug (that is - if the decision is negative).

I would have definately stated that many people are not capable of making wise decisions regarding powerful prescription drugs and definately need a doctor's permission. Greenwald seems to state that adults may need to seek a doctor for advice, but that the decision should ultimately be up to the patient. I disagreed with him until I read his article.... now I'm not so sure.

Read his article and let me know your comments.

Imus & Andy

Okay... there is no Andy, but I thought that sounded better than Imus & Al. Anyway... since I've been suffering from bloglag recently I thought I'd highlight some comments from another discussion board about Imus and his struggles on the bread line.

Tom: Personally I think that what he said was distastefull and rude but other than that it was nothing more than a bad insult. He called them ugly, so what. Why is there such a crazy uproar over the whole situation? We are allowed to free speech in America, he's a radio personality who's job is to talk so he's bound to make a mistake once in a while, and he said he's sorry. What more is necessary? I'm pretty tired of hearing about how these girls are "deeply saddened" by his words. I guarantee you that every girl on that team has said something insulting about another person before, if not several times that sameday. Then, the Reverend Al Sharpton calls for him to be fired. Shouldn't he be forgiving him for his words, not promoting them for ratings on his own radio show?

Nilay: No.

Matt: Truth be told... if I (or Josh, or Kevin, or you, or Heather, or just about any of us) talked about a woman as a "nappy headed ho" at our job, we would be canned, with no recourse.... no opportunity to state our case... no nothing. Imus walks the decency line for living (just like O&A, just like Stern...) and for those that choose to entertain by walking that line.... well.... eventually you are likely to cross it one too many times....

Matt: Sure it's a double standard.... and I'm okay with that. Our lives are full of double standards, and I doubt they're going away anytime soon.

Josh: He's offensive, old, and has no business in a public forum if he is going to spit out mess like this to the masses.

Me: That's right! If you have something to say and it's not appropriate for all people to hear... you shouldn't be allowed to say it. The freedom of speech is only extended to polite individuals with objective and relevent comments. Now... that sarcasm aside... I absolutely agree with MSNBC's decision to stop broadcasting the show and with CBS's decision to stop giving Imus his paycheck. What I don't like is Al Sharpton (for many reasons, but I'll tellyou one here). He had Imus on his show shortly after these comments were made. He didn't let Imus speak at all. Al Sharpton wasn't interested in discussing the issue. He simply wanted to berate and ridicule Imus for his listeners. I think Al Sharpton is a horse's ass. Someone should drag him out to an alley and beat the shit out of him.

You: Feel free to comment! Please!

bloglag

I haven't blogged in a few days. I'm suffering from bloglag. It is a severe social condition that inhibits an author from maintaining an up-to-date blog.

Anyway... I thought I'd take a minute to share some interesting web-gems with you.

I have a fraternity brother that maintains a pretty good discussion on his blog. He's recently called out "anti-immigration" views and discussed their fallacies.

My other blog describes society's descent into the muck. Here's a recent article chastising British teachers who would rather take the easy way out, than actually teach history.

I know that there's not much reading material here, and I'm sorry about that. If you've found something interesting, let me know. Add a comment here. If it's interesting enough, and I can find time, maybe I'll blog about it.

Ron Washington

I listened to Dunham & Miller this morning. They were musing about Ron Washington's greatness - or, lack thereof (depending on who was talking). I don't listen enough to know who was arguing about what (honestly, I usually listen to the financial report on another AM station). But, I do know that one of the hosts was claiming that Ron Washington isn't great (yet). He was a little perturbed by all the media claims that the Ron Washington way was going to earn Texas a pennant. "He really lights up a room!"
I agree that Ron Washington is a great guy, but I also agree with the dissenting view on The Ticket... Lighting up a room is not the same as lighting up a scoreboard. Ron Washington has never managed above single A (at least, that was the claim on SportsRadio 1310). He's also been passed over many times by the A's. What do they know that the Ranger's front office doesn't know?
I don't think Ron Washington is a bad manager. I simply think that he's got to prove himself... and last night he didn't. I saw the same Rangers I've been watching for the past decade.
The pitching was mediocre (a hit per inning, fewer strikeouts, and all runs were earned). However, the Ranger's run support was horrible.
The only way Sammy Sosa could get on base was a walk, and then the Ranger's left him there. Overall they left 14 on, and you can't win pennants leaving 14 men on base.
Kinsler put one over the fence, but other than that the Ranger's bats were ineffective. *
Ron Washington has 161 more games. Will he be the next great manager for the Ranger's or the next great third base coach for Garland High School?