Comments on: Random thoughts of a random mind

By: Ellie

Ellie — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:09:31 +0000

My own thought (as a confessed moderate) is that they sense Hill — like Bill — is a moderate and that is seen as a huge problem with the Libs.

As a moderate, I am thoroughly disgusted by the pro-lifers who do indeed seem to be saying I will support you if you support me, otherwise I am saying home.

The “Republican” brand is in trouble. It IS a 3-legged stool — fiscal conservatives, social conservatives and libertarians. If the social conservatives (did I say I also have no problem with gays?) take a hike, so will I.

No, I won’t vote for Hill and I won’t stay home. I will vote Liberatrian — most likely Ron Paul!

By: Danny Lemieux

Danny Lemieux — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:00:33 +0000

Ellie…they like Obama and, I suspect, are a little bit afraid of Hillary’s demonstrated heavy-handedness with the media. Just a hunch, though.

By: Ellie

Ellie — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:02:12 +0000

Another random thought: have you noticed how all the Bastions of Liberalism (NPR, NYT, NARAL etc) are “piling on” Hilliary? What’s up with THAT?

By: expat

expat — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:45:51 +0000

Since this is a random thoughts post, I hope it’s OK to go OT. Your friend Naomi Wolf gave an interview to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung elaborating on the themes from “The End of America.” She talked about reading Goebbels on tactics for taking over a country. One was to get rid of civil servants and replace them wih loyal followers. She then goes to the attorney firings by Bush and says that the NYT didn’t followup on the Harriet Meiers memo questioning whetther all federal prosecuters should be fired. Obviously the interviewer didn’t know enought to as an intelligent question, so this “information” will become part of the common knowlege of Germans, most of whom couldn’t begin to tell you how their own prosecutorsand judges are selected to say nothing of the arcane justice system of the EU. The message is out: America is just as bad as Nazi Germany.

I thought you might like to know what she has been up to.

By: Al

Al — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:52:06 +0000

Hi BW,
My father graduated both Harvard College and Law, in the 1930s. In the 1980s he began noticing that the products of his beloved Cambridge were not making the cut.
As far as MBAs are concerned, when I was working on mine, I ran across an interesting study. Harvard MBAs were hired at higher salaries upon graduation than graduates of other MBA programs. Five years after graduation, they were all making the same.
Al

By: Mark Loegering

Mark Loegering — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:28:09 +0000

Bookworm,
Whenever I hear opposition to more oil drilling based on environmental concerns, I can’t help wonder what happened to all the oil on ships sunk during World War II, both in the middle of the oceans and in harbors. Much of it sank to the bottom to be consumed by bacteria, much evaporated and much burned. There doesn’t seem to be any lasting effect.
Also, technology has advanced to such a degree that even two devastating hurricane seasons in a row in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in no significant spills despite the damage to and destruction of hundreds of offshore rigs. The worst damage since the Santa Barbara spill seems to have been ships breaking up or getting holed and leaking fuel or crude into the water. If San Francisco Bay can survive the loss of water to Southern California, it can certainly handle a spill from one ship.
Mark

By: Allen L.

Allen L. — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:28:15 +0000

A sound ecosystem can recover in as quickly as 2 to 5 years. A stressed system may take much longer. It also is determined by where the spill occurs.

Just as an aside. The largest source of oil in the coastal regions comes from on shore sources. Something like 40%. People need to make sure to dispose of used oil properly, and that businesses they frequent do to.

By: soccer dad

soccer dad — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:10:41 +0000

Yes it’s a silly show. (You’re right too, is an old Jewish joke.)
Still I find it interesting that they did an episode based on the Most Dangerous Game (Get Smart did too, and recently Criminal Minds did a variation.)

Whereas in the short story (which I read) and the movie (that I didn’t see) the hero’s name is Kincaid; in Gilligan’s Island the hunter’s name is Kincaid.

By: Ophiuchus

Ophiuchus — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:00:22 +0000

The environmental effects of oil spills have been heavily researched. There is wide agreement that the most spectacular effects are short term. Birds are particularly hard-hit, but the bird populations rebound within five or ten years because birds are highly mobile and they have a rapid reproduction rate. In general, environments are not badly damaged if you go in and wipe out a bunch of critters — the unaffected neighbors move in and repopulate. Of course, there can be severe short-term damage to fisheries and other industries affected by the spill.

For the longer term, the effects can stretch out for decades as the system clears out the oil. Fortunately, oil is biodegradable, so if you give the ecosystem enough time, it will clean itself up. Moreover, these long-term effects show up as reduced population densities, not mass biosphere destruction. Nevertheless, the magnitude of the long-term effects remains controversial.

By: Ellie

Ellie — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:44:03 +0000

It’s interesting that you find Havard law grads ineffective. I’ve found the same is true of their MBAs. I once heard a CEO gripe of the typical Harvard MBA : “they couldn’t organize a three-car funeral!”