07 January 2004

Grounded

Posting will be very spotty for the next couple of weeks. Multiple real life events are all converging on me.

  • I’m out in California on business. There’s just been a re-org and unlike previous ones, this one looks like it will actually impact our group. This means I have to pay attention and participate at the meetings.
  • I have to go to my father’s funeral in Texas next weekend.
  • She Who Is Perfect In All Ways will be producing a Perfect Child on Friday.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully I’ll be back in production later this month.

Posted by orbital at 1:17 PM | View 0 TrackBacks | Trackback URL

Egypt moves on from the past

[source, source]

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher said in Cairo on Sunday that Cairo considers the issue of Camp David as belonging to the past, stressing that Egypt is now eager to promote ties with the Islamic Republic, IRNA reported. […]

“I don’t think using the issue of Camp David will be useful, because it does not exist anymore and is merely a thing of the past,” he said.

I’m just waiting for Colin Powell to announce that he considers this a “step forward” that “opens new opportunities”.

Posted by orbital at 10:18 AM | View 0 TrackBacks | Trackback URL

The fruits of a managed economy

[source, source]

China announced a complex transfer on Tuesday of $45 billion from its soaring foreign exchange reserves to two of the four big government-owned banks, the third large bailout in the banking system in less than six years.

[…]

The costs of the American savings and loan bailout more than a decade ago - $123.8 billion in public funds and $29.1 billion in supplemental deposit insurance premiums from financial institutions - drew considerable complaints from politicians and the public in the United States. China has been eager to prevent a similar controversy. Its latest bailout, while costly, covers less than half of the nonperforming loans at two of the four troubled banks, and in an economy that is one-eighth the size of America’s.

Despite how bad this looks, I’m sure that it’s OK because China provides universal health care.

Posted by orbital at 10:07 AM | View 0 TrackBacks | Trackback URL

Hey, the books are clean -- trust me

[source, source]

Even activists like Ralph Nader and the anti-globalization firebrand Naomi Klein, who have often been at the forefront of efforts demanding accountability from corporations and governments, have lashed out at calls for holding NGO’s similarly responsible.

Why would they need oversight? I mean, their hearts are pure. We know this because they’ve told us so and would people of such pure heart lie about that?

Posted by orbital at 9:49 AM | View 0 TrackBacks | Trackback URL