Identical Twins!

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, 67, fondly called the "Iron Lady" by her supporters, has become Africa's first elected female head of state following Liberia's presidential run-off





And Desmond Tutu...or is it?

What's Your Real Age?

This is a great web site suggested by a co-worker who is trying to quit smoking (as I am).
There are a series of lifestyle questions and then you get to find out whether you're a 103 or just 99 years old.
Other great stuff too. Click on the logo above to go their site.

Lisa and Finnegan

Lisa (of Montreal) and friend. Lisa works as a graphic web designer person for Kamik.

Lisa writes, "Here I am with the Kamik mascot for this year. I won the naming contest and his name is Finnegan."

Bushism

"Because the—all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those—changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be—or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the—like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate—the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those—if that growth is affected, it will help on the red."

Source: Slate.com

Nuclear Proliferation

Recently, Iran has been pilloried over its nuclear ambitions. The crux of the problem is that the "world community" does not trust that Iran's nuclear program is strictly peaceful. Iran has said "its (nuclear) programme is solely aimed at energy production. It has threatened to resume uranium enrichment and end snap UN inspections of its nuclear facilities (which it currently allows) if it is reported to the (UN) Security Council"

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will consider a resolution drawn up by the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany to "report" Iran to the Security Council.

What follows is a part of the interview by "Newsweek with Mohamed ElBaradei," Director-General of the United Nations´ International Atomic Energy Agency. (Newsweek Magazine )

DICKEY: Do you have any indication that there is some other completely separate Iranian nuclear-weapons program?

ELBARADEI: No, we don´t. But I won't exclude that possibility.

DICKEY: But there's another problem. Even if the declared nuclear research is all that Iran has going, there's nothing in the Non-Proliferation Treaty itself to prevent them from enriching uranium - which they say is their right.(...)

ELBARADEI: Sure. And if they have the nuclear material and they have a parallel weaponization program along the way, they are really not very far - a few months - from a weapon. We need to revisit the treaty, because that margin of security is unacceptable. But specifically on Iran, the board is saying, "You have a right under the treaty to enrich uranium, but because of the lack of confidence in your program and because the IAEA has not yet given you a clean bill of health, you should not exercise that right. In a way, you have to go through a probation period, to build confidence again, before you can exercise your full rights."

While other nations such as Israel, India and Pakistan are somehow able and allowed to carry on with their nuclear programmes, Iran is somehow not capable of exercising this "right" until the
IAEAgives its approval.

Contrast Iran's dilemma with the history of Israel's now well known nuclear capabilities.

In 1986, Mordechai Vanunu, who had worked for nine years as a technician at the Dimona nuclear research centre in the Negev desert, revealed that Israel did indeed have a nuclear arsenal and a "weapons programme bigger and more advanced than anyone had previously thought." See related article at the BBCVanunu

Israel is thought to have started its quest for nuclear weapons soon after it came into existence in 1948. Since Vanunu brought the Israeli nuclear programme into the light of day, Israel has practiced a policy of deliberate ambiguity - namely, that Israel neither denies nor confirms that it does have nuclear weapons."

Vanunu was lured from London to Rome and kidnapped by the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, brought back to Israel and sentenced to life in prison. He languished in jail, a large part of which was spent in solitary confinement for 18 years.

Israel has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, thus allowing it to escape scrutiny by the the IAEA. And its policy of deliberate ambiguity means that the United States (which has laws preventing it from supporting proliferating states) is able to accept Israel's policy at face value and can continue supporting Israel.

Perspective is everything. I have no doubt that if Israel did not possess overwhelming military force capable of defeating the many hostile states sorrounding it, every Israeli would be dead or swimming very quickly in the Mediterranean Sea. On the other hand, why is there always an assumption that only the states which currently possess nuclear weapons are somehow sane enough to have nuclear weapons? BBC article discussing inconsistency in U.S. approach to different nuclear powers.

Which brings me to Iraq -- of course! Were there any Weapons of Mass Destruction found after all? So, the United States invaded Iraq on a faulty assumption, turned and continues to turn a blind eye to the reality of Israeli nuclear capacities and then asks the world to follow it on the question of Iran's "right" to pursue nuclear capabilities?

I guess there really is no such thing as a level playing field.

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Wonderful Place for You to go!

I'm off for a couple of days of rest and recreation. I normally go away for a day or two of solitary time twice a year if possible. In the summer, it seems Sibbald Point Provincial Park is the place I usually end up. The winters are usually a toss up between Ottawa, New York city or Niagara Falls (Canadian side, of course!).

While in Niagara I will be staying and swimming at the the Sheraton on the Falls. I will visit the Butterfly Conservatory and the casino. And who can resist going across the border to shop and wonder at the awful conditions those Americans have to live under; and what better place to do this than at the Prime Outlet Mall. In between all this a lot of my time will be spent in the room and by the pool reading and napping.

Now Get Back to Work!

H2 Oh, Oh

Some poeple refuse to drink water unless its bottled by Coca-Cola. Why? Because it's healthier? No. Because it's only a little more expensive and worth the money? No. Because it's environmentally friendly? No. Because it's safer than tap water? No. Wanna know more? Click on the title of this post and read the article on EMagazine's web site

For ever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanities, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women and children, mainly Jews from many countries of Europe.

Text on the monument which was erected in the Birkenau Extermination Camp in 1967 on the initiative of the International Auschwitz Committee

Are You a Racist? Take the Test

"How do you test internal bias? You can try asking people, but since most of us don't like to think of ourselves as biased, we won't necessarily admit to it on a questionnaire, even anonymously. But there's a test to detect the kind of bias people won't admit to and may not even be aware of themselves"

To take the test click on the title of this post.

To read the article at slate.com that led me to the test site copy and past the following address into your browser's address window: http://www.slate.com/id/2134921/?nav=tap3

Am I a Racist?

My result for a test which purports to test your preference or bias for black people over whites said: "Your data suggest a slight automatic preference for Black People compared to White People."

So there! Ya white, cracker, honky, MoFo!

See above post to take the test yourself. And by the way, some of my best friends are white.

From King of Pop to Queen of Arabia

You May Be a Redneck If...

You got stopped by a state trooper.
He asked you if you had an I.D.
And you said, 'Bout What?'

$2 Trillion or Not $2 Trillion?

War on Iraq Will Cost $2 Trillion!
Current moderate estimates for the cost of the war in Iraq: $2 Trillion!

Reuters reports this total, which is far above the US administration's prewar projections which rejected an early figure of $100-200 billion. A new study by Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001, and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes concludes that the total costs of the Iraq war could top the $2 trillion mark.

Even taking a conservative approach, we have been surprised at how large they are," the study said, referring to total war costs. "We can state, with some degree of confidence, that they exceed a trillion dollars."

Third World Debt
The foreign debts of developing nations are growing at an uncontrollable and unserviceable rate. For all Third World countries debts have risen from $610 billion in 1980 to $2.3 trillion in 1997.

This means an annual average increase of 8.2%. Now, over the same period of time the average annual economic growth of these same nations has risen by 5%. Statistics like these demonstrate a debt growth in excess of economic growth, reducing the ability of nations to pay back debt.

Amount US owes to the United Nations
The UN has always had problems with members refusing to pay the assessment levied upon them under the United Nations Charter. But the most significant refusal in recent times has been that of the U.S. For a number of years the U.S. Congress refused to authorize payment of the U.S. dues, in order to force UN compliance with U.S. wishes, as well as a reduction in the U.S. assessment.

U.S. arrears to the UN currently total over $1.3 billion. Of this, $612 million is payable under Helms-Biden. The remaining $700 million result from various legislative and policy withholdings; of course, there are no current plans to pay these amounts.


The Cato Institute Disagrees
Despite the fact that news articles routinely discuss the U.S. debt to the United Nations, no such debt exists. Assertions about this nonexistent debt ignore the billions of dollars of military and other assistance that has been provided to the world organization but neither properly credited nor reimbursed to the United States; they divert attention from the administration's policy of providing resources, personnel and equipment to the UN without the approval of Congress.

Currently Reading...

I am currently reading The Fate of Africa, by Martin Meredith. This is a hefty tome by a renowned authority of the African continent.
Publisher's Weekly says: "The value of Meredith's towering history of modern Africa rests not so much in its incisive analysis, or its original insights; it is the sheer readability of the project..." Hmm, doughnuts...


I have just finished reading:
"We Were Soldiers Once...and Young : The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam," by Harold G. Moore, Joseph Galloway
This book was very readable but unless you have a great capacity for spatial stuff you will find it a bit tedious as I did. Nevertheless, you HAVE to read the book before seeing the movie which stars Mel Gibson and a fabulous performance by Sam Elliot playing crusty old Sergeant Major Basil Plumley: "Gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves!"