| Random Thoughts From a Confused Mind | ||||
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Saturday, October 11, 2003 ( 4:38 PM ) MB When the new Iraqi banknotes are issued next Wednesday, the central bank should collect the old currency, put it in sets, and sell it on eBay as collectors items. Offer "Buy it Now" for twice the current value plus shipping charges. Sell framed sets for a higher rate and you could not only make money for the country but provide some temporary employment for people: framing the sets, monitoring the sales, shipping.... Permalink ( 4:23 PM ) MB I He thought it was long and a bit dull but he still understood what was said. He could understand what has been accomplished. He could understand what hasn't and what the possible reasons are. So why do so much of the media and so many people who actually heard the statement have trouble understanding it? At least, I assume they misunderstood it from the statements they have made. Could it be that he read it with an open mind while the others heard only what they wanted to hear? Permalink ( 2:53 AM ) MB Bush visit to Kentucky draws protesters of war, economic strategy The article is worth reading just for the comments of some of the protestors. It does seem odd that they blame Bush for all problems, including local economic ones, instead of placing some blame on our governor. Permalink Friday, October 10, 2003 ( 9:02 PM ) MB Conor and Emma at the Halloween party at the Louisville Zoo. 
Before it got dark we saw a few of the animals, including this arctic wolf. 
It was dark when we finished the trick or treat route. We rode the train and got to see the Headless Horseman (no picture of that since flash photos are not allowed, it could scare the horse.) Permalink Thursday, October 09, 2003 ( 3:10 PM ) MB Toys for Iraq Posted on the Chief Wiggles site: We have just been given word that the military can no longer handle our shipping to Chief Wiggles. The volume has far exceeded what they are able to do. We are currently working on alternative shipping options. As soon as we have them in place, we will let you. You may still make cash donations at OperationGive.org. This means, DO NOT SHIP ANYMORE PACKAGES TO CHIEF WIGGLES. The boxes ( Permalink ( 11:36 AM ) MB  Permalink ( 11:29 AM ) MB North Korea Wants Japan Out of Future Talks (via Insults Unpunished) North Korea said Tuesday that it would not "tolerate" Japanese participation in future talks about its nuclear weapons ambitions. They don't want a neighboring country that knows from first hand experience what a nuclear attack is like participating in the talks? On Tuesday, North Korea said Japan had "selfish objectives." The North has admitted to abducting 12 Japanese citizens during the 1970's and the 1980's to serve as language instructors to its agents, but Japan suspects that many more were kidnapped. Some officials involved in the international meeting said that both before and after the Beijing talks North Korea had expressed displeasure with Tokyo for raising the abduction issue. How selfish! Japan views its citizens as people, North Korea views them as tools. Permalink Wednesday, October 08, 2003 ( 10:05 PM ) MB Kentucky is one of three states which will elect a new governor this November. Chandler Responds To Fletcher Campaign Ad The first negative campaign ad in the Governor's race began airing Friday. In it, Republican Ernie Fletcher lashes out at Democrat Ben Chandler. Fletcher maintains it's Chandler who ignited the firestorm. Now, Chandler has responded to those allegations.... Chandler is now calling for all television stations to pull the new Fletcher attack ads from the air.... Permalink ( 8:52 PM ) MB I added the new Bush/Cheney Weblog to JoeAnt. I don't think they really belong in "Celebrity Blogs" but when I added the first pol blog I found (Gary Hart's) there didn't seem to be a need for a new subtopic. Now that more and more politicians are publishing blogs, it looks like it's time to create a new subtopic. I probably ought to go ahead and divide that sub further by political party. Permalink ( 11:46 AM ) MB Yesterday I took my three children (ages 7, 10, and 14) and a 7-year-old friend of my daughter to the Louisville Science Center. We began with the Kid's Zone, an educational/play area for the younger children. I thought that beginning here might wear them out a bit so that our tour of the rest of the museum would be more manageable. It just revved them up. In every area we went to, the three younger kids took off in three separate directions. One of the most interesting exhibits (to me) was the one about reading. There was an optical character recognition robot dog, table books (not to be confused with coffee table books) where the images to be read and viewed were displayed on the table and you could read in any direction by tilting the table, and a Glyph-O-Scope. You look at pictures through the Glyph-O-Scope. The pictures have embedded binary data that gives more information. It was much cooler than I make it sound. I was disappointed that several exhibits in other areas of the museum were not working. I can understand a few being out of order, but it seems that there were at least a half dozen that didn't function at all and since we didn't visit every exhibit I'm guessing that the number is even higher. This is the next event we're planning on visiting. I just need some time to recover from yesterday first. Permalink ( 10:45 AM ) MB Three separate Gallup Polls conducted over the last month confirm that 7 in 10 Americans approve of the display of a Ten Commandments monument in a public area. (via Clayton Cramer) With 77% approval, it's closer to 8 out of ten. 78% approved of non-denominational prayer at public school ceremonies. Of some interest is the fact that almost two-thirds of Americans approve of the use of federal monies to fund social programs run by Christian groups. This would be similar to the faith-based initiative program that has been a part President Bush's agenda. Read the rest. Permalink Sunday, October 05, 2003 ( 11:14 AM ) MB Question: Why would someone who considers herself to be firmly right of center (and who supports our involvement in Iraq) still turn up the radio and sing along when any of these songs come on? Fortunate Son OHIO Fixin'-To-Die-Rag What's Goin' On? Eve of Destruction We Gotta Get Out of This Place Answer: They are the songs I grew up with. I'm also aware enough to realize that it was a different time, a different war, and different circumstances. France abandoned South Vietnam but never seemed to waver in its support of Iraq. (Yeah, 30-something years later and I still haven't gotten over my resentment that France dumped a problem their colonialism helped create onto us.) The Vietnam War had the draft. Now our military relies on volunteers. North Vietnam had the support of its neighbors and of major world powers. Iraq's neighbors have good reason to feel more secure now. In South Vietnam we were supporting a corrupt and disliked government. In Iraq, we got rid of a corrupt and disliked government. Besides, I like to sing along with the radio and by turning it up I'm doing a favor to the others nearby. My singing is truly awful. Permalink |
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