I have a day job. So every word of this is my opinion, not that of my employer. This offer IS void in Wisconsin. Except, of course, that some material in this column comes from incoming e-mail; such material is usually reproduced in the Sans Serif type font to distinguish it from the (somewhat) original material.

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Tales of Teaching 2004
Tales of Teaching 2005

April 26, 2004 Vol. 6, No. 17

General News

• A Pint's A Pound The World Around--Or Is It?
• Political Notes

Computer Industry News

• Craig Reynolds' Technobriefs

Humor

• The Top 18 Cereals for Substance Abusers
• Funny Arithmetic

Movies

• None

Letters

• Really speeding, The Dan Grobstein File

General News

A Pint's A Pound The World Around--Or Is It?

I learned this rhyme as a boy. Someone told me this week it isn't true. After extensive searching on the Internet, I've discovered it is or isn't true, in the US and Britain, and that a pint weights a pound and a quarter, either here or there or in both places.

I know a liter of water weighs a kilogram, so it always made sense to me that measurement and weight would be related in the English system as well. But does anything make sense in the English system? Isn't it time we went metric?

Political Notes

The Unofficial Paul Krugman Web Page.

Iraq's a mess; this secret government memo says so. Lots of people posting links to this one, and lots of people emailing me about it!

Which faction will run Kerry's campaign, asks Slate, the online magazine.

What did the Spanish Prime Minister say about his decision to withdraw troops from Iraq, maintain faith with his country's democracy and his fellow countrypeople, and maintain Spanish credibility? "More than anything, this decision reflects my desire to keep the promise I made to the Spanish people more than a year ago.'' and ``Driven by the deepest democratic convictions, the government does not want to, cannot and will not act against or behind the backs of the will of the Spanish people.''

***

Bob Woodward caught Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard B. Myers red-handed arguably unlawfully delivering classified information to a foreign power and violating United States classification rules. This proves, once again, that none of them have any concept of how to establish, protect, promote or develop America's true national security. An excerpt of Woodward's book appeared in The Washington Post, April 18, 2004, p. A1 and A14: "Plan Of Attack/ Deciding on War; Behind Diplomatic Moves Military Plan Was Launched."

One reads therein that on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Myers met in Cheney's office with Saudia Arabian ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan. They revealed to him "TOP SECRET NOFORN" material (the battle plan for the U.S. invasion of Iraq). The NOFORN designation meant NO FOREIGN which means the information may not be seen by or disclosed to any foreign nation.

Woodward wrote that Colin Powell (who had severe doubts about the wisdom of invading Iraq) felt it would be disloyal to make his views public due to Powell's sense of loyalty to a certain politician and the military. Thus, Woodward also revealed that Powell failed to understand that he was a civilian who owed his allegiance to the people and Constitution of the United States, not "politician" or the military.

***

Maybe you saw the pictures, or heard the story...

"Pentagon officials said the photos, issued last week and posted on an Internet site, should not have been made public under a policy prohibiting media coverage of human remains. Some activists argue that the photos, released last week, underscore the war's human cost."
It is amazing the lies the "president" can get away with. Clearly he doesn't care a fig about the families, and is simply doing this to maintain support for the war.

Computer Industry News

Craig Reynolds' Technobriefs

Humor

The Top 18 Cereals for Substance Abusers

Back on top! OK, back on the bottom. OK, back in a tie for the bottom. Just think of the contributors who didn't make the list at all...

Funny Arithmetic

Movies

None

Letters

Really speeding, The Dan Grobstein File

In the category of News of the Weird, Daniel Dern found this:

Dan Grobstein File:

Paul Bremer has an interesting history, according to The Chicago Reader via atrios.blogspot.com.

You can buy $10 or $20 gift certificates for hospitalized members of the Armed Services.

Talkingpoints.com finds the CPA stealing HTML code from the Brookings Institution. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but as the blogger says, why couldn't they steal some ideas as well?

From the New York Observer: Privatization in Iraq: "Contractors" With Guns.

From the British newspaper the Guardian: Their beliefs are bonkers, but they are at the heart of power; US Christian fundamentalists are driving Bush's Middle East policy.

From the New York Times: Heinz Co. is Campaign Weapon for Bush. Maybe the execs will stop giving all that money to the GOP. (hah). Also, Paul Krugman doesn't just call Bush an idiot, he explains why Bush is an idiot.

From the Washington Post: Pentagon Deleted Rumsfeld Comment. Rummie cleans up the transcript of his interview with Woodward, "accidentally" deleting a damaging statement. Also: engineers don't write their own Op Ed articles? Shocking!

Dave Methvin's PC Pitstop