Central News is Good News!

U.S. 'News': Is Anyone Watching the Iraqi Media Network?, by Cynthia Cotts.

I'm going to touch on something Cotts doesn't:

You know how when you're working somewhere and a new management team comes in and spends beacoup bucks restructuring everything they way they think it should be and all the money goes into that and production grinds to a halt because no one can actually do any work because they're stuck "transitioning" between two systems and using both at once and that takes too much time plus stuff falls through the cracks all the time and if the new mgrs had just examined the existing system and co-opted it, people could have just working and things wouldn't be in such disarray for days/weeks/months/heaven forbid, years?

Does anyone else feel like that about the U.S. and Iraq? It's like, every time you turn around, there's my government, re-inventing the wheel rather than use the perfectly good one that other organizations have ready and waiting.

'Monstrous U.S. Justice'

'Monstrous US justice' attacked by law lord

Lord Steyn, a serving law lord, said the United States was acting illegally by holding the men without trial since their transfer from Afghanistan early last year.

"By denying the prisoners the right to raise challenges in a court about their alleged status and treatment, the United States government is in breach of the minimum standards of customary international law," he said.

"...Ought our government to make plain publicly and unambiguously our condemnation of the utter lawlessness at Guantanamo Bay?"

Yes. Mine, too.

New Rant at 3rd WWWave

The 3rdWWWave of Feminism

(Said rant is from a week or so ago, I just forgot to mention it). Go look at "Replies to the News".

Dear Santa

Please bring me for Christmas (not in order):

Yarn for a Booga Bag! (click here for details)
Anything off my Amazon wishlist (linked in the nav elements to the left for your convenience, Santa!)
More spiffy 1" cone incense from Incense Galore (I'm particularly fond of moroccan tea, 'tree' scents like fir or cedar, 'spice' scents like licorice or vanilla, and sandalwood)
A small (< 6) selection of quality cigars
Money with which to buy groceries
Self-governance, peace, and liberty for Iraq and her people

Medicare

I have one remark from last nights presidential campaign debate in Iowa, and then a comment about the legislation.

1. Someone brought up the fact that Medicare had been originally intended as a safety net. My question then, is this: should it stay a safety net, or become something else (and if, so, what, exactly)?

A safety net is designed to catch someone falling from a problem elsewhere - like, say, not enough retirement income to pay for medical needs. Maybe in order to 'fix' Medicare (reduce associated costs), what is necessary is to improve citizen's retirement savings, and maybe reduce healthcare costs overall[*].

2. According to NPR's Morning Edition, this legislation was roughly 650 pages in length, and fully released (for review) less than two weeks ago.



[*] I can think of a couple things immediately that warrant attention in that case: malpractice suits and insurance, and weighty HMOs.

Three-State Solution for Iraq?

In an editiorial today, Leslie H. Gelb proposes a Three-State Solution in Iraq.

I don't know. If Iraq has been a national entity since the 1960's, is it too late? That's two generations worth who have grown up identifying themselves as Iraqi.