The Noble Pundit

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A special expanded edition tonight!

Is porn beginning to beat a retreat? - She obviously hasn't seen my inbox lately....

Allard blasts Daschle for leaving Senate debate to attend Denver fundraiser - Daschle is saddened by the accusations. But not enough to refrain from accusing Allard of hypocrisy.

BROKER BLASTS MARTHA IN COURT - More on Martha. But in her lawyer's assault on the broker's invocation of the Fifth Amendment, isn't he still in jeopardy until he's sentenced and therefore his use of the Fifth Amendment protection would still be justified?

New Service Is the Last Word in E-Mail (link requires registration) - $9.99 for the ability to send email from beyond the grave during the next three years. I guess people will pay for just about anything.

Slavery lives on in Sudan - Is anyone really surprised that slavery would still exist in a land of dhimmitude?

Baby Sitter Arrested, Accused Of Witchcraft, Satanism - Actually she was charged with giving the kids alcohol, but that doesn't sound as freaky as witchcraft and satanism, now does it?

U.N.: Al Qaeda Trying to Use WMDs - Gee, it is nice to see the UN might actually be waking up to the facts of the real world.

Energy Bill Would Impose Power Grid Rules - Great. Another big government answer. Got a problem? Solve it with more government rules and regulation!

Democrat Blanco Wins La. Governor's Race - Well, they had to win something, right?

Blame Israel, says Red Cross as it ends food aid for West Bank - Whoa! I'm confused. They're stopping emergency food aid because of an economic collapse in the West Bank that they claim is being engineered by....THE JEWS!!!! Isn't an economic collapse the time when food aid is needed most? Is the Red Cross only supportive when it isn't desperately needed?

U.S. businesses take sides on free trade arret ea (sic) spanning Western Hemisphere - There are two sides to every story. Always interesting when they meet in a small town.

Three Brokerages Face Charges Over Discounts - American Express, Wachovia and Legg Mason join the parade of mutual fund miscreants. This is a complete and total failure on the part of the regulators at every level.

PayPal Credit Card Verification Virus

During the last week or so, I've been getting email after email after email from "PayPal Support" (not the real one) telling me I needed to update my credit card on file or else my account would be restricted. Being as I actually did have a credit card on file with PayPal that was expired last month I was almost taken in by the virus.

What caught my eye was that the email was sent to a different variation of my name than the one on file with PayPal. Luckily I had saved all my original emails from PayPal so I had something legit to compare to.

The other thing that caught my eye was the .scr attachment to the email. At that point, regardless of the appearance of the email (and it is an excellent spoof) I wasn't going to open it.

Keep a watch out for this one. It is well done and very convincing. Norton anti-virus didn't catch the first couple of worms. It was only my noticing the oddities in the emails that prevented there from being a problem for me.

The worm is apparently a variant of the MiMail I virus. But instead of just trying to harvest information for spammers this one is malicious.

Update your virus definitions and watch out for unsolicited emails from PayPal Support.

A New Federal Hate Crime Law?

Orrin Hatch and Teddy Kennedy are trying to push through the Senate a new Hate Crime law allowing the Federal government to step up the penalties on people who commit a crime against a protected group.

The hate crime laws, both the proposed federal version and the existing state versions, are, in my opinion, overly vague and a distortion of the "equal under the law" ideal. What is the objective determination of a hate crime? Where is the standard written down?

I don't think it exists. Too often, talking heads or reporters can legitimately say "This might be classified as a hate crime." That's a problem. There should be no "might." There should be no question one way or the other. It either is or it isn't.

But under the current hate crime law regime there is a subjective component. Not everyone is assured of being treated equally. What is a distasteful, but non-hate act to one prosecutor may be a hate crime to another. Without an evenly applied objective standard, it is not right.

The law appears to be designed to allow the targeting of unpopular ideas. One of our core beliefs is that unpopular ideas should be allowed as much as the popular ones. The First Amendment was designed in part to protect unpopular speech. The hate crime law would not only subvert that ideal, but it would allow a tyranny of the minority by giving every minority the right to declare virtually any perceived slight as a hate crime worthy of federal prosecution.

There is no need for a federal hate crime law, but then again, there was no real need for the state versions, either. They are merely the results of politicians trying to prove themselves "tough on crime" without ever considering the real consequences of their well-intended laws.

The saying goes "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Well, in our case Hell is an unfree society in which people are prosecuted and persecuted for their ideas. The hate crime laws are but a stepping stone on that road.

UPDATE: Found an article in Penn State's student newspaper that is germaine to the discussion. The Office of Multicultural Affairs at PSU selectively enforces diveristy, which is exactly what would happen with a federal hate crime law. Favored minorities get preferrential treatement, while everyone else gets accused. It is just wrong.

Cool New Site

For those of you who just can't get enough of the upcoming Presidential election, there is a new site Fundrace.org, dedicated to tracking the fundraising of the candidates in most every category.

Want to know who has the most repeat donors (Dean)? How about the wealthiest donors (Lieberman)? The most donors (Bush)? They even have a map of the US where you can gauge the degree of support for any one candidate, or you can view the map in terms of red vs blue, just like the last election with all the red states and blue states.

Definitely a site for every political junkie to bookmark.

Some People Just Can't Take Criticism

Ignore the goofy headline for the time being.

Obviously, some Muslims have a little trouble with the concept of criticism (as if we didn't already know that), even when it comes from within.

Of course, their intellectual arguments are simply outstanding, seeming to consist of statements along the lines of "ignorant clown."

What was the great offense to light off such a heated and deep debate within Saudi society? Was it a direct assault on the Wahabbi cult calling it out for the breeding ground of hatred that it is? Was it an attack on The Prophet himself? Was it expounding on the benefits of a conversion to Christianity?

No.

The offensive episode was called "Without a Mahram," the male guardian who must be the woman's father, brother, son or husband under the conservative Wahhabi Islamic philosophy applied in Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi woman needs a mahram to go to a government office or a restaurant or to go anywhere in a car. Saudi women are not allowed to drive, and if they are caught in a vehicle with a man other than a mahram or a professional driver, they can be jailed.

The episode showed the troubles suffered by the women in one family -- a mother, sister, wife and daughter -- when the only man in the house has to go away for six months.

The sister could not go to work, the wife couldn't go out shopping and the daughter was without her beloved videos because women are not allowed in video stores. When a policeman came to investigate a theft at the house, he refused to enter because there was no mahram. Al-Qasabi played the part of the cop.

So there you have it. They took a critical look at the problems faced by a significant portion of their population due to their laws. They exposed a truth of everyday life.

The actor's response?

"Those who oppose the program have a problem with people who do not think the way they do," he said in an interview. "They always believe they're right and the other is wrong, and they refuse to talk. ... They want to drag us to the Stone Age."

Now I'm sure that some Wahabbi apologist out there is going to rail about how the actor is misconstruing the criticism and is blowing this all out of proportion, but take a look at this other, unrelated incident from the same article:

For instance, the Commission for the Protection of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice -- the formal name of the religious police -- prevented one Saudi prince who owns a factory from registering the brand name of a new product because the commission didn't like its name, Explorer.

The prince, Amr Mohammed Al-Faisal, reacted caustically in the Arab News.

"The learned scholars of the commission rightly noted that the letter X in the name was a cross, and this aroused their delicate Islamic sensibilities," the prince wrote.

"I am greatly relieved that thanks to the vigilance of the commission a great tragedy was avoided," he said. "Until then I had innocently and, I must admit, naively assumed that the letter X was just that, a letter of the alphabet, not as it turns out a cunning and dastardly plot by Christians to corrupt our Muslim faith."

I'm glad that the Prince had the guts to call out the religion police on what has got to be just about the most asinine ruling I've ever seen outside of the Florida Supreme Court. I'm guessing that the letter "X" is also used in the Koran. I wonder what kind of reaction the clericops have for that? Is that part of the great Christian plot to corrupt Islam also?

I'm guessing that for as long as Wahabbi rules the peninsula, that question will never be addressed.

And social progress towards the nineteenth century will never be made.

Viagra: A Marriage Killer?

"Nobody had bothered to ask, might there be a downside, a dark underbelly to Viagra?"

Divorce lawyers are running around placing blame for the breakup of some marriages on the husband's use of Viagra. Personally, I find this argument to be intellectually weak and feel that this is more a case of the lawyers trying to build the groundwork for an eventual assault on Pfizer, the manufacturer of Viagra.

Just as "guns don't kill people, people kill people" Viagra does not cheat on its wife, the husband does. It is very weak to blame the tool for the actions of the person wielding the tool. Viagra doesn't screw women, men screw women. It is not the fault of the drug.

Yes the drug makes it more possible. But the drug does not force him to cheat, it is some greater underlying factor. Maybe the fling was cute; maybe his wife wasn't; maybe there was some other factor that made him want to get out of the relationship. In any event, it is his choice and his alone. It is not Pfizer's choice. It is not his wife's choice. His, and only his.

Perhaps Viagra exposes some of the rifts that would have otherwise stayed hidden in a loveless or faltering marriage. Is that something that Pfizer should be sued for? I don't think so.

Cheating on your mate is not a side effect of taking Viagra. Doing a clinical trial to ascertain if Viagra could create a tendency to cheat would be nearly impossible I would think as it would require an absolute determination of an impotent man's desire to cheat on his wife. It strikes me that making that determination would be an almost unattainable burden of proof.

Seeing as how a scientific study would be nearly impossible to achieve, I believe that some lawyers out looking for a big payday are starting to build an anecdotal case against Pfizer. I'll bet at some point we see a class action lawsuit against Pfizer based on the "evidence" that Viagra was named as a cause of a marriage failure in "X" number of divorce cases, or some junk scientist will publish a report based on "facts" found in divorce proceedings. Some way, some how Viagra being named in so many cases, without a real study or challenge will come back to hit Pfizer.

But for every bit of "evidence" being fabricated in divorce cases nationwide there is also evidence that suggests that the problem really isn't Viagra:

"My wife and I decided to separate. All this time, I'd thought that if I could have sex with her again, everything would work out fine. But it turns out that our problems are bigger than the sex thing. So we're splitting up."

"...our problems are bigger than the sex thing..." So is this proof of Viagra value or its "dark underbelly"? Is it better that these two people split up because he took Viagra and they discovered that their marriage had real problems? Or should they have stayed together longer, becoming more and more miserable together as the tensions mounted, until they either got a divorce or major health problems? Is it better to stay in a failing marriage through ignorance of the real irreconcilable differences or is it better to understand the depth of the problem facing you and then deciding to move forward to either counseling or divorce while there is still time to live life? It's a tough call, but I personally prefer the latter.

Viagra is not the perfect wonderdrug bereft of side effects. But causing infidelity is not one of them.

Viagra is not killing marriages. But failing marriages may kill Viagra.

Infotel

Recently, Justene at Calblog was threatened by the lawyers from Infotel over some things that the commenters on her blog wrote. She believes that she has a solid defense, but she ended up taking down the comments for that post (mainly because she was heading out of town). xlrq has posted his take on the situation and also copies of all the comments from Calblog.

Two of the charges the lawyer sending the letter brought up were misrepresentation and interference with economic relations. For some reason, I don't think that the company has any kind of leg to stand on (from the Buffalo Better Business Bureau website):

The Bureau has received numerous complaints concerning this company's selling practices. Most complaints claim their business was billed for a directory listing which was never ordered, or that Infotel sales personnel claimed to be asking for a renewal of a listing when none existed....

This company has an unsatisfactory business performance record with the Bureau due to a pattern of complaints claiming deceptive selling practices, a pattern of complaints concerning credit and billing procedures, and for failure to eliminate the cause of those complaints....

Number of complaints processed by the BBB in last 36 Months: 495 ...

I've read the comments. I don't really see how they are a misrepresentation of the company's business practices. The company uses shady sales and collection techniques, as the commenters claimed and as the BBB site verifies. The truth is not a misrepresentation, even if it is painful to have exposed.

By the same token, when a company is using deceptive and possibly even illegal sales and collection tactics, I fail to see how it is an interference in the economic relationship to warn someone about a potential deception or a deception in progress. There is no economic relationship when one party is deceiving the other. And again, the BBB report appears to back up the claim that there is deception taking place on the part of Infotel.

Taking these common sense measures recommended by the BBB should help to stop the sleaze and Infotels of the world:

How to Protect Your Business

* The best protection is knowledge and vigilance. Your company's accounting department, or the individuals responsible for paying bills, should carefully review all invoices, particularly those from unfamiliar companies.

* Never place an order over the telephone, unless there is no doubt that the firm you are dealing with is reputable. Obtain the organization's name, address, and telephone number, as well as its representative's full name and position. Then check on the company's reliability with your local Better Business Bureau.

* Establish effective internal controls for the payment of invoices.

* Channel all bills through one department.

* Insist that employees fill out pre-numbered purchase orders for every order placed.

* Check all invoices against purchase orders and against goods or services received. Make certain that order numbers correspond with the invoices.

* Verify all invoices with the person who gave written or verbal authorization.

* Clear all invoices with the appropriate executives.

* If the invoicing company claims to have tape recordings of the order and verification calls, insist on hearing them.

Consumers who wish to file a complaint can contact the Federal Trade Commission at 877-382-4357 and Phonebusters for Canadian companies, by calling 888-495-8501. (Phonebusters is the national deceptive telemarketing call center operated by the
Ontario, Canada, Provincial Police.)

(Found via Dean Esmay)

Quick Links

Germany Backs Down on EU Military HQ - Hmmmm. German reproachment. I think that we ought to let this play out.

Tribute for gay victims of Nazism - A "me-too" memorial for, at most, 15,000 dead cheapens the memory of the Holocaust, in my opinion. What happened was deplorable and unacceptable, but worthy of a tax payer funded memorial?

Charges Schwab Joins Brokerage Scandal (link requires registration) - Even the brokerage firm for the little guy isn't clean. Just goes to show that the mutual fund scandal was not a localized event.

More Poorly Done Economic Reports

Last night, I discussed the MSN mutual fund scandal article and how it was full of mis-statements and manipulations. Tonight, it is Reuters distorting the economic truth.

The 7.2% growth rate in GDP posted during the third quarter was unsustainable at this time. But 4% is not a bad number. If we could keep the economy growing at a steady 3-4% we would be doing fine. Is it a slowdown from the 7.2%? Yeah. But it is a slowdown to reality.

Really, out of everything I see here, the only really concerning items were the spike in food prices and the corresponding spike in wholesale prices.

Food is an inelastic demand. People always have to eat and it is unlikely that we will significantly change our food purchasing habits to help buy that new refrigerator, TV, or car. A sustained rise in food prices will lead to a permanent reallocation of spending away from consumer goods. This is a long term concern.

The other thing that I'd want to keep an eye on is the spike in PPI. If it is a one time spike, like the market is assuming, then it's no big deal. But if PPI persists at this new, higher level, we're going to see more companies struggle. We'll also eventually see the CPI numbers following suit and rising, which introduces the specter of inflation to the equation again (didn't think I'd be talking about that bug-a-boo so soon again). Again, though, this is a long term concern.

The most important thing right now is that the economy is still growing at a decent clip. We've got to find a way to keep the economic tide flowing in the right direction.

Things still aren't great, but they're also not as bad as the doomsayers would have you believe, either. Keep everything in perspective. Just because GDP growth may be slowing down does not necessarily mean that we are heading into a failure of the recovery.

Dusting Off Greenpeace By Dusting Off The Law Books

Greenpeace is now up in arms over the fact that the US Department of Justice has dusted off an 1872 law against "sailor mongering" to go after the organization. The law prohibits the boarding of a ship before its arrival in port and the conspiracy to do so. This is exactly what Greenpeace did.

They boarded a ship passing up the Florida coast (it's final destination was Charleston, South Carolina) to unfurl a banner protesting illegal logging of mahogany. Greenpeace chose this particular ship because they suspected it of transporting Brazilian mahogany.

Freedom of speech? Sure. Whether the ship was transporting mahogany or not, Greenpeace has an absolute right to protest illegal logging. However, if they choose to break the law, even unknowingly, while doing so, they must accept the consequences.

They broke the sailor mongering law. The law does not require success in the mongering endeavor, it prohibits the boarding. That is the illegal act. And that is what Greenpeace did. They boarded APL Jade.

Civil disobedience is not grounds for an exemption from the punishments associated with the acts. In this case, the DOJ appears to be bringing the charges against the organization itself. It would be hard for Greenpeace to argue that there was no organizational conspiracy to board the ship.

The DOJ seems to be approaching this with the goal of gaining a conviction, not because of the prison time or fines, but instead because they can then go to the IRS using the conviction as the basis for revoking the tax exempt status of the organization.

Is it an attempt to silence free speech? Maybe, I'll even say probably. But Greenpeace is being given every opportunity through the court system to defend their actions and to cast reasonable doubt. The DOJ isn't arbitrarily silencing Greenpeace, it is working the system, just like the protest organizations do.

There are consequences to breaking the law, even if it is being broken with the best of intentions. Greenpeace needs to remember that. They are no more above the law, even the obscure and unused ones, any more than you or I.

Reality Must Be Relative

How some people can function in the world is truly beyond me. If your country created the radical Wahabbi sect and you were a cleric of that sect wouldn't you find just a wee bit of irony in this:

Sudeis urged everyone in Saudi Arabia -- including security forces and media -- to combat terror and radical ideology. (emphasis mine)

The guy spends all his time spreading hatred and preaching violence (he even managed to drag Israel into this) and then he turns around and tells people that they should disdain and despair the very teachings he promotes.

I'll give credit where credit is due: it is good to see that even the Wahabbis are starting to understand that al Qaida is not some friendly group. Even the Saudis are now starting to call out bin Laden & Co. for what they are: murderous thugs. And that is good.

But I'll be more impressed the first time that they don't drag Israel into something. I'll be more impressed the first time they stand back and say, "Hey! Maybe this Wahabbi stuff is a little too extreme."

I doubt that I'll see either of those anytime soon, but we're at least starting to see some baby steps in the right direction.

Quick Links

IOC OK Transsexual Athletes in Olympics - Men's, Women's and Other's? Sheesh, this is getting out of hand.

Turks Concerned Over Rising Christian Missionary Activity - Hmmm, it addresses the needs of the people, rather than the people addressing the needs of the religion. Maybe the Turks could learn something from the missionaries rather than just complainin about the aid.

Jerusalem Cafe Still Employs Arabs Despite Poison Attempt - You know them? There are probably people who said the same thing about Mohammad Atta.

What Memo? - Hugh Hewitt takes on the mainstream media and their reluctance to take on "The Memo."

Mutual Fund Misinformation

I've touched on the mutual fund trading scandal just briefly mainly because I didn't find it to be overly surprising and the reporting that I had seen seemed to be relatively responsible in light of what was going on. Until today.

Jon Markman at MSN Money has a column ripping on the mutual fund industry. I agree with him that there are problems in the industry and even agree on some of his reasoning such as lax enforcement, light punishment, and exploitation of legal loopholes. I also thought that he was just a little over the top. His shilling makes it sound as though every broker and every mutual is corrupt, which is as untrue as saying that the scandal is a tiny insignificant event.

What really bugged me though was that he based a large part of his argument on two erroneous statements. The first is just a statistical distortion; the second is an outright misstatement.

Lawrence Lasser, disgraced former head of mutual-fund powerhouse Putnam Investments, took home $30 million annually over the past six years until he was ousted over improper trade allegations at his Boston firm. He certainly didn't make that by enriching his retail customers. In the past five years, the median annualized return of all Putnam stock funds in the MSN Money database is 0.6% (emphasis mine)

0.6% That certainly isn't much, now is it? Sounds like Lasser was just sitting there not doing a goddamned thing for his clients, huh? Know what the 5 year annualized return for the S&P 500 is up to today (which includes a 21.62% increase this year alone)? It has been 0.05% (updates daily so the number you see may be different, this number taken at 9 pm EST, 11/13/03) I'd also be interested in hearing how the Putnam bond funds performed over that same time frame. Especially given the fact that the Aggregate Bond Index returned over 6.5% over that same time period.

The author picked the 0.6% number because it sounded impressive. He never pointed out that Putnam outperformed the market over a similar time frame. He didn't include the returns that Putnam may have earned in either balanced funds or pure bond funds as they almost certainly would have made the numbers more palatable given the economic climate. He threw out a statistic without the context to make it relevant. He manipulated it to make his point, which just happened to be diametrically opposed to what the statistic tells us.

His misstatement:

Late trades were clearly a criminal fraud that cheated law-abiding investors who innocently took the other side of a loaded transaction.

This statement betrays an utter lack of understanding about how an open ended mutual fund works. There is no one taking the other side of a trade. This isn't like a regular equity trade. With mutual funds, shares are created when the purchase is made and destroyed when the shares are sold. There is no direct harm to another investor. Indirect through higher fees and operating expenses, maybe. But not directly.

Even if the author were discussing a closed end fund, where there are a set number of shares or even a regular equity, this still wouldn't be true. When you buy a stock or closed end fund, delivery will be made. If a firm is allowing its clients to back out of trades, that does not absolve them from making delivery. It is the firm for the weasel that suffers the consequences of his renege, not the investor on the other end.

I don't mind articles that are designed to inform people about potential problems. I don't mind articles that are designed to expose potential fraudsters. I do have problems, however, with articles that use manipulation and misstatement to hype a problem into something more than it is.

There are problems in the mutual fund industry, no doubt about it. But there are also problems in this author's story.

Investing is shrouded in mystery enough without having to sift through lies also.

Meet "Ted"?

It's official. United Airlines does not have a clue in the world about naming airlines. First, in the 1980s they tried to rename the holding company to be "Allegis." That name, thankfully, failed miserably.

Now, in an effort to pull themselves out of bankruptcy, they are creating another new low cost carrier (don't forget, they already tried with Shuttle by United). So what kind of really cool name did they come up with? Surely it has to be something that just grabs your attention, inspires some kind of image, or is just really, really cool. Their choice?

Ted

Ted? Who in the hell is Ted? It sounds like the guy down the street, or maybe the pilot's name, not the name of an airline looking for respect, passengers, and profitability.

Maybe it would be a great name for an airline based in Massachusetts. But something based in Denver? I kind of doubt it.

I think that someone in UAL needs to start looking for a person with some ability to create new names. Ted will soon be joining the pantheon of really, really stupid airline names in history.

Quick Links

Gore blames TV for U.S. complacency - This coming from the man who claimed to have invented the Internet.

Like it or not, America is becoming an imperial power - Are we having to do some of the same things as the imperialsts did? Yes. But does that make us imperialsts? I don't think so. I we wanted to have an empire, we could have an empire. But we don't. That is what seperates us from the imperialsts of years past.

When Will the Next Ice Age Begin? (Link requires registration) - So does this mean that global warming is or isn't a problem? I'm getting confused. How are we going to warm our way into the next ice age?

Now This Is An Identity Crisis

So, to be a Jewish lesbian or the wife of a Muslim terrorist? This was the question that, at some point, was before Melanie Brown, now known as Khadija. Her answer? Both!

Oh how I would just love to hear the psychotherapy sessions regarding the transition. What possesses a girl to go from being a Jewish lesbian to being the wife of a man who just months before would have had two reasons, in his mind at least, to kill her. The contorted logic that has to be involved would likely be fascinating to hear.

Some people have minor identity issues in life. It sounds to me like Ms. Brown's were just a little more than minor.

I guess the world takes all kinds, sometimes all rolled into one.

OK, I'm Pissed

Am I allowed to have a moment to be pissed?

Last week when I tendered my resignation from my current employer, I offered to train the person she had assigned as my assistant to take over my position. I told her it would help to smooth the transition (I had actually already been training him off and on for a couple of weeks anyways).

She agreed that it would be a good idea. She even went as far as to ask him if he wanted my job. He, of course, said "yes." Obviously I must have failed in my training somewhere if that was his response.

And everything was going just swimmingly. With there now being one week left in my tenure there, we were done with all the major training issues and were starting to work on the little stuff, like customizing Quickbooks. The only issue left to discuss was his new rate of pay - something she had already told him she would discuss with him.

Then today, while trying to figure out why a designer wasn't running any of his sales through the company like his agreement with the store stated he should, she goes off and says - in front of my replacement - that she's going to hire a new bookkeeper, indicating it is due to his lack of experience.

Needless to say, he was pretty well stunned. Yes, he's young. Yes, he lacks experience. But her choice is a lady with a design degree who has never managed anything either. He's at least got training, tenure with the company, an understanding of how the owner works, and most importantly, he had desire. He was looking forward to the challenge. He wanted the opportunity.

Instead, I found myself outside, in my outdoor office, trying to console him; trying to help him find a silver lining. We talked about ways for him to make the most of the situation. I encouraged him to help the new person. I told him exactly why he should be glad that she was separating out the pain in the ass portion of my job and giving it to someone else. We talked about making his job into a resume builder.

And we talked about how he felt betrayed. He felt as though he was lied to. Getting passed over for the position was one thing - he could understand that, it was the way in which she did it. She offered it. He accepted it. He started working on it. And then she pulled the rug out from under him.

And you know, I understood completely. When I first heard that she was bringing in someone else, I felt a tightness across my chest, like I had done something wrong. I felt terrible because I ended up feeling like I had contributed to his getting his hopes up, only to watch them get crushed. I've been passed over for positions in the past, but this, his getting passed over in such a vile manner, hurt worse than any of my own failures.

People asked questions because of his age. My answer was always that he would be able to succeed in the position if the company were able to survive the learning curve - which is questionable no matter who comes in. And I believe it absolutely. He has the right temperament and the right ability to observe, process and react in a timely manner. He has what it takes.

I just wish that if she was going to deny him the opportunity that she would have done it with more class. He has been going above and beyond the call of duty. He has been doing more than he was asked or required. She owed him at least a little smidgeon of common courtesy. He didn't deserve it, he earned it.

God, am I pissed about this.

Random Thought Of The Day

Found this on my desk when I got to work this morning. Too bad my boss didn't leave it for me, just happened to leave it lying around.

Like I said, too bad someone didn't leave this as a motivational message or some such thing.

Quick Links

It's not raining men for Saudi women - Well, gee. After seeing pictures of some of the aging ones, I can understand this.

Arsonist's parents must pay $715,000 - This is one of those articles that makes me just so happy to be a parent.

Petition drive aims to repeal Nevada tax increase - Another tax increase is followed by another tax revolt. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Boeing Unconcerned About Slip To #2 In Market Share

Phil Condit, CEO of Boeing, has expressed a lack of concern about Boeing possibly slipping to #2 in the race for global aircraft market share. Normally, I'm not one to agree with accepting a decline in market share, but in this case, I think that Mr. Condit has it right.

He states that Boeing is more concerned with profitability than it is with market share. In the battle with Airbus, that is a good thing.

Airbus has never truly been upfront with their finances. Most, but not all, of the early sales they won over Boeing were bought. They aircraft were sold under cost, pure and simple. Since those early "victories" they've been able to sell through a combination of using the "family" approach and more buying of market share.

For Boeing to even try to compete with Airbus in the market share arena would be corporate suicide. Airbus has no concern with making profits. Boeing has to have that concern.

The two companies have very different goals. Boeing is company concerned with making profits for the shareholders. Airbus always has been, and likely always will be, a political concern. It is more concerned with the glorification of the French and German aerospace industries, technology industries and workforces than it is with making a single Euro.

I think Boeing has made some mistakes along the way. I think that they have dithered too long on a 747 stretch. I think that they mishandled the 757. Boeing is by no means a perfectly run corporation. In fact, I have even said once or twice that I think that they are being mismanaged.

But this call by Condit is the right one. He knows that Airbus is not playing by the same rules as Boeing, and doesn't have to. Condit has to look out for the best interests of Boeing and in this case that meant giving up market share leadership to Airbus.

Not Another Coinage Carnival

Today I was introduced to a new blog, Earthly Passions, by way of an email from the writer Mark Pierce. I spent a while at work today reading through the main page and found the site to rather interesting.

One post in particular caught my eye. He had a satirical post on the new nickel. Funny in and of itself, but curiousity got the best of me. I clicked on the link on the image to get to the article from the Dayton Daily News that talked about the change, seriously.

Look at these pictures:

First the new designs:

Now, a Roman Coin, pay particular attention to the reverse on the right hand side of the photo:

And this one, again paying attention to the reverse:

(Photos taken from the VCRC)

Notice a similarity? The first Roman coin is a Concordia Militvm, or peace with the military. It is supposed to represent peace and the understanding between the emperor and the military. Looks quite a bit like the Spring release, huh?

And look at the galley coin. It was supposed to remind the holder of the coin of the power of the Roman Navy. Looks an awful lot like the Fall release now doesn't it?

I find it interesting how, in the US Mint's quest for interesting coinage, they harken back to designs nearly 2000 years old.

Now all that being said, I am not a fan of the multiple reverse designs that we've seen on the quarter and now coming soon to a nickel near you. In my opinion it reduces the dignity of our money. The new state quarters, while interesting to collect and to look at, just don't seem the same as the old eagle quarters. The new nickels will be a nice novelty, but we'll lose the dignity of Monticello.

The Romans used their coinage for propaganda which is why they had multiple reverses. While our coinage is a reflection of who we are, it is not a propaganda piece. Our coinage should reflect a certain dignity.

Multiple reverses take away from that dignity. That's why I don't really like the state quarters or the new nickels. They look nice, they're interesting to collect, but I don't really think that they are a good representation of who we are as a nation.

Changing the coinage is a decision that should not be taken lightly. It should happen only after a significant deliberation and the design - not designs - should reflect some piece of Americana or our history.

Of course, this is why I'll never be given a position in the Mint.

Egyptians Against Arabism

Ah, now this is good to see. After reading article after article after article about how Israel is the fault of everything wrong in the Arab world, I finally come across an article from someone who has a clue.

A group of Egyptian intellectuals and members of free professions have formed a party called "Egypt the Motherland" (Misr al-Um) that will represent those Egyptians who see their culture as distinct from the Arabic culture...

How about that? Someone is taking note that the Egyptians are not Arabs, they're Egyptian. They have a longer and more rich history than the Arabs. They have done much more for civilization. There is, and never was, any reason for them to have surrendered their heritage.

I don't think that returning to heiroglyphics is necessarily the answer, but returning the the concept that they are Egyptian is a good start on the path towards a true revival of Egypt.

It's good to see that there are some in Egypt who are trying to throw off the shackles of Arab Imperialism. It can only be the start of something better than they already have.

Why Do They Always Drag In Israel?

al-Qaida blows up an Arab residential compound in Riyadh. They deliberately target Muslim women and children. Why?

With Washington continuing its occupation of Iraq, despite international and United Nations protests, Arabs are feeling increaslingly insecure, said the Riyadh-based employee. The Bush administration's handling of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has only fuelled anger. (emphasis mine)

Now, the last I checked, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had nothing, zero, to do with this bombing. It was an attack on the House of Saud, a regime the terrorists consider to be too moderate for their tastes. This had nothing to do with the Jews. It had nothing to do with Tel Aviv. It had nothing to do with Jerusalem, the Al Asqa Mosque, or the Temple Mount. It was a strike at the Saudi regime.

The Arabs have got to get away from the intellectual crutch of blaming Israel for everything in some way, shape, or form. Israel is the root of all evil only in the minds of those too feeble of mind to think for themselves. It is a scapegoat for those unwilling to look within. It is an excuse for those incapable of self-criticism.

The Arabs living in Saudi Arabia need to simply deal with the fact that the seeds sown by the Saudi regime are starting to blossom. Wahabbi Islam is creating hate filled monsters with no direction, except the unending pusuit of martyrdom. They don't care who they kill or how, so long as they can brand the potential victim an infidel and therefore get their 72 virgins in Paradise. Muslim, Jew, Christian. Arab, Israeli, American. None of it matters. A dead "infidel" is the ticket to never ending bliss for the terrorists. Hitting the US and Israel have become too difficult for the thugs lately. Is it any wonder that they turned their homicidal tendencies on their own? Not to anyone who has paid attention it's not.

I keep hoping against hope that this will be the wake-up call for Muslims and Arabs alike to see that the nutjobs do not care about anything other than murder and mayhem. If they're already starting to fall back on the Israeli crutch, I don't think that I'm going to be rewarded for my hope this time either.

Carnival Of The Capitalists #5 Is Up!

The Carnival of the Capitalists fifth edition is up over at The Accidental Jedi. Looks like another assortment of excellent posts, as usual. Go take a look!

This week's Carnival is being hosted by Professor Bainbridge. Get your entries in to capitalists - at - elhide.com

God, In All His Names, Learns Photoshop

Got to love it when the Man Upstairs decides to screw around with us. Here is His version of Photoshop fun, from two slightly different points of view:

Allah takes his shots....

And Yahweh takes his...

It's good to see that God still has a sense of humor.

French Depression

So, now the French are taking more anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and other mood altering drugs than the British, Italians, and the Germans. At least at the governmental level, it would explain a lot. So how about it Jacques? What pills have you been popping?

I also find it interesting that the WHO rates France's "health system the best there is," yet the Health Minister this summer started denying payment on 900 out of 4300 prescription drugs due to budget overruns. The reason? They had "little or no recognisable medical effect."

I guess that the snake oil salesmen in France are having a tough time of it right now. It's too bad they won't be able to get government payments for their bronchial lubricants and hepatitic protectors.

I wonder if the WHO is going to downgrade their assessment of the French health care system after the coming sudden increase in la crise de foie? You know how it is when take away people's placebos they were taking for their "issues."

The More Things Change

In a speech marking the 65th anniversary of Kristallnacht, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder has called on the people of Germany to resist the resurgence of racism and anti-Semitism.

On the night of November 9th, 1938, Nazi gangs in various German towns and cities plundered and set light to Jewish shops and synagogues. With so much broken glass, this 'crystal night' marked the start of the official persecution of the Jews in Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.

Chancellor Schroder described it as a day when civilisation and decency made way for lawlessness and hate. (Radio Netherlands via Free Republic)

Sometimes, I sit and wonder if we're facing a redo of the 1930s. Anti-Semitism is on the rise. The world economy is still struggling. Demagogues seem to rule the day more than rational thinkers. Appeasement is in; intervention is considered by the elite to be gauche. We've, to a large extent, reduced our military capability below a threshold of reasonableness. The threats are on the horizon, just this time their names are Bin Laden, Jong Il, and Khomeni instead of Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini.

To me, the most troubling sign is the rise in anti-Semitism, again. The Malaysian Prime Minister can make blatant anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist quality comments and he gets a shrug from many. Europeans can vote Israel as the greatest threat to world peace. Bin Laden, Arafat and their cronies can call for the extermination of Israel and all the Jews. And no one really seems to give it too much concern.

Large segments of the world are heading back into the habit of scapegoating the Jews for every little thing that goes wrong. The world holds Israel to a different standard. We expect them to surrender the territories like the Sudetenland. We expect them to show restraint in the face of direct violent attacks, like the residents of the Nazi ghettos. It's almost as if we would accept their elimination in the name of "world peace."

But Bin Laden and his ilk really are no different from the tyrants of the '30s. Just as Nazis simply had they appetites whet by the sacrifice of the Sudetenland, the Islamists would only be emboldened by an Israeli sacrifice of the West Bank and Gaza. Jerusalem would be the next target (look at what happened when the Israelis offered Arafat everything he asked for - he backed up and demanded all of Jerusalem also). Their lebensraum wouldn't be Europe. It wouldn't be the Middle East. Hitler at least pretended to hide his aspirations of world domination. The Islamists make it no secret at all.

We've been down this road once before and we made the mistake of appeasement. The terrorists in charge today cannot and should not be appeased. They need to be pressured, to be put on the defensive, to be taken out of power.

Otherwise, they may make WWII and the Holocaust look like an opening act.

A Glimmer Of Understanding?

After yesterday's bombing of the residential compound in Riyadh, I was kind of interested to see what the response of the Muslims in the region would be. I think that the reactions are showing some promise.

Al Jazeera has a decent little article about how Bin Laden really doesn't like the House of Saud too much. They're starting to show concern that maybe these attacks on civilians aren't quite in line with the preachings of the Qu'ran, as this Reuters article demonstrates.

I find it distasteful in the extreme that the Saudis would refer to a suicide bombing that killed 35 their "9/11." Deplorable? Yes. Unfortunate? Absolutely. Reason for anger? Definitely. A 9/11? Not even close.

These suicide attacks are a small taste of what al-Qaida is capable of. They could call these their Khobar Towers and it would be accurate. But it is not a 9/11.

Perhaps, though it will be enough to push the moderate factions in Saudi Arabia to quit supporting the terrorists. They now have to know that support does not equal safety. The terrorists simply want to kill, regardless of sex, age, race, or religion.

Maybe if the RamaBomb forces the Saudis to come down solidly on the side of peace I'll feel differently and less offended.

For some reason though, I don't expect to feel any more conciliatory anytime soon.

What A Day!

Sorry about the lack of posts today. I've spent most of the day trying to recreate the OS for my other computer. The Win 98 registry finally gave up the ghost, so I had to erase the original install and start over again. Took me almost all day just to get it back to the point it was at before, but with a good registry this time.

Plus, it's been another terrible weekend for Miami football, with both of my teams getting humiliated by teams from Tennessee. This has made for a rather depressing weekend.

But I've got a few goodies to post for I head off to bed early!