URGENTLY NEED HELP

e-mail from a potential customer:

> Good day Red A:
>
> Thank you. All communication should flow through the Procurement
> Department. I have passed along your company information to my
> supervisor, Mr. Jamie Zxxxx. She is the Director of Procurement,
> Outsourced Finished Goods. She is currently traveling and won't return to
> the office for another week.
>
> Best regards,
> Linda

So, is Jamie a boy or a girl?

A Poem by my Spam Filter

Holiday union, so cadenza so casual, To volatile no substantive

have a selectmen, on to Colossus!

Test the sweets of the life yourself!

But one, preach the grievousness of the host and turned white and

Then the their evil tidings, lift up the singers people, saw that

her minoan, was to married, is scar a rodent?

Prophesy not. That every one measure Your Image

BE BLOWN UP WITH VIRGINS




I believe this poem is about Kevlar's South American sex holiday fantasy.

Dueling Banjos

Chaon asks if the US is "pot committed" in Iraq.

My answer: Nice analogy. Possibly useful in making any decision on the subject.

Now, here's an analogy from the world of economics/accounting:

Is the blood and treasure expended in Iraq a "sunk cost" that we should NOT consider when making a decision about staying or leaving?

Personally, I would not apply the "sunk cost" model for the following reasons:

1. We could get back some of our investment if we do win. No matter how unlikely you view that, it means its not a true "sunk cost." Now, if at some point it looks like nothing will change if we stay or go, then it becomes a sunk cost. Are we there yet? Up to the individual opinion I suspect.

2. If we leave for whatever reason without "winning" then there will be additional costs to pay, i.e. its not like abandoning a failing brand.

I also like the poker analogy better because it involves:

a. not knowing each parties' hands...

b. the concept of bluff and misinformation.

c. includes the concept of willpower and determination.

UPDATE: Gen. Petraeus has some interesting comments that seem to back up the Poker Analogy argument...from his testimony in the Senate:

SEN. LIEBERMAN: You also said in response to a question from Senator McCain that adoption of a resolution of disapproval, which is contemplated by our colleagues and probably will be on the Senate floor — disapproval of the new way ahead in Iraq — would not, if I remember your words, have a beneficial effect on our troops in Iraq. But I want to ask you, what effect would Senate passage of a resolution of disapproval of this new way ahead that you embrace — what effect would it have on our enemies in Iraq?

GEN. PETRAEUS: Sir, as I stated in the opening statement, this is a test of wills, at the end of the day. And in that regard, speaking purely as a military commander, if confirmed — albeit one who, frankly, does understand enormously and treasures the value of free and open debate, free speech, who has put himself in harm's way to protect those great features of our democracy — nonetheless, having said that, a commander in such an endeavor would obviously like the enemy to feel that there's no hope.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: And a resolution — a Senate-passed resolution of disapproval for this new strategy in Iraq would give the enemy some encouragement, some feeling that — well, some clear expression that the American people were divided.

GEN. PETRAEUS: That's correct, sir.

News from Iran

From this week's Economist, I found this very interesting piece of news from Iran:

A sudden decision last year to raise the minimum wage had to be reversed when it caused job losses and strikes across the country.

First of all, did I read that correctly?

An INCREASE in the minimum wage led to STRIKES in Iran?

The job losses are predicted by classical economics, but supposedly in the US they do not really happen enough to matter. I am guessing they raised it too high in Iran.

Next, a snarky quote from the article:

Mr Ahmadinejad's anti-American bluster has also been attacked in light of his recent visit to Latin America, widely viewed as ill-timed and unnecessary. A reformist daily, Etemaad-e Melli, called the Venezuelan, Ecuadorean and Nicaraguan presidents, who embraced Iran's president, “left-wing friends, good for coffee-shop discussions but not for setting our security, political and economic priorities”.

Ha ha, I like these Iranian reformists.

The Accountability of Kofi Annan

"My fourth lesson – closely related to the last one – is that governments must be accountable for their actions in the international arena, as well as in the domestic one.

Today the actions of one state can often have a decisive effect on the lives of people in other states. So does it not owe some account to those other states and their citizens, as well as to its own? I believe it does.

As things stand, accountability between states is highly skewed. Poor and weak states are easily held to account, because they need foreign assistance. But large and powerful states, whose actions have the greatest impact on others, can be constrained only by their own people, working through their domestic institutions."

Kofi Annan's farewell speech

The new head of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, has ordered an emergency external review of all UN expenditure after claims that up to $100 million meant for development aid was channelled into the hands of North Korean officials.

The UNDP, headed by Sir Mark Malloch Brown, a Briton, for much of that period, relied on audits conducted by the North Korean government to track the use of funds to help the desperately poor population of a country where millions have died from famine in recent years.

The UNDP has said that from March 1, it will instigate new financial controls in North Korea, choose local staff and pay them in North Korean won rather than dollars.

Telegraph - UK

The Audacity of Hope

Barrack Obama might be the next POTUS. So we need to weigh his words carefully and see if this is the kind of man with the wisdom and judgement to be our next leader.

...the Associated Press reports that Obama has weighed in on Sunday's NFC Championship Game between the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints:

"The Bears are going to the Super Bowl," a gleeful Obama told reporters Monday outside a church in suburban Chicago. "I am happy for New Orleans. I think it's a wonderful story for their city, but this fairy tale ends when they come to Chicago."

We will know pretty soon if he is misleader or a man of Truth.



p.s. He wrote a book called The Audacity of Hope. Maybe that's as in:

THE AUDACITY TO HOPE REX GROSSMAN DOESN'T CHOKE!

Podcast Suggestions

Especially good for anyone who is commuting in Taiwan. I have found that podcasts beat music for commutes. You turn 'em on and next thing you know you are at your destination. With music, I keep having to click forward to get past the 10,000 Chopin pieces I downloaded for some reason. Seriously, charge me money for downloading music so I won't decide that the Billy Joel discography is something desirable for some reason. (Hint: was looking for song about :we didn't start the fire...but ended up with the whole lot.)

Morning Commute: as much as you publicly despise the "morning zoo" when among your patronizing liberal friends you secretly need it...

Best of Moyles Podcast: it's British so you can rationalize it as not being downmarket actually.

Night Commute: You're off work and want to be reminded of that. It has to be relaxing and entertaining.

Jimmy Pardo's Never Not Funny Its like being at a party standing next to three guys talking bullshit. But they happen to be comedians.

Doug Loves Movies This is the guy who starred in the movie Super High Me - a documentary about a guy who gets stoned for a month.

Maybe more to come...

Seinfeld: Jewish or not?

Canada has a sitcom called "Little Mosque on the Prairie."

... a new show called "Little Mosque on the Prairie," North America's first sitcom about Muslims. Elsayed gave rave reviews to the premiere of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's show about a Muslim community in a small, midwestern town, and he's eagerly awaiting the second episode Wednesday.

"A lighthearted comedy that portrays the Muslim community in a manner that is evenhanded is definitely a welcome change from hearing about Muslims as terrorists, as jihadists," Elsayed says. "This is a great tool for people to learn about Islam in a language they can understand, which is comedy. Also, it's a great indicator that Muslims are an integral part of this community - this is who we are, so accept our differences, not just tolerate them."

It sounds good. But I do have a question about this:

"We need something to show that Muslims are human," says Kamal Nawash, founder of the Free Muslims Coalition, an anti-extremist group based in Washington, D.C. "I'm hoping it ends up being something like 'Seinfeld' - a show made up by Jews where the whole show is based on humor. It puts life in perspective; it shows people that we're all the same at the end of the day."

Is it really wise to say that: "a show made up by Jews" when they do have many non-Jewish characters?

Publicists for the show hemmed and hawed when asked about the characters' religious identities, but a not-so-scientific survey of old episodes revealed that Cosmo Kramer, Elaine Benes and George Costanza are definitely not Jewish.

Then again, the two main creators were both secularish Jews. So I guess Mr. Nawash has a point, sort of. Even the non-Jew characters seemed pretty Jewish - or perhaps New Yorkish would be the better term.

DISCLAIMER:

I am not Jewish.

I was made an honorary Jew by two Jewish guys in the back of a minibus in Indonesia. Danny Goetz "naik butt" and another guy who didn't drink so I don't recall his name.

If I was Jewish I would be a non-practicing secular Jew who nevertheless bought a sukkah every so often. Eating in a tent is very cool.

ERRATTA:

Best of luck to Mr. Rahman:

But he's hopeful that the show will have a positive influence, both on how non-Muslims view his religion and on how Muslims see themselves. "At least somebody is brave enough to bring some humor to this sensitive religion," says Mr. Rahman, a coordinator for a gay Muslim group.

Enter the Robots

So I was driving Alan back from the bushiban and I had been listening to a stand-in on Dennis Prager (right wing radio dude) talking about Judeo-Christian values and the founding of America, yadda yadda yadda. But once I pick up the kid, I try to switch to music - he's has a long day and wants to veg out, not listen to gibberish in English. So I end up with "Enter the Robots" cued on the IPod.

Naturally, I got to thinking about Issac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Okay, so its a good idea to have laws that robots follow. Makes sense.

Now, shouldn't that same idea apply to people?

Shouldn't humans follow some simple set of "laws" or some value system?

If so, wouldn't the 10 commandments be such a thing, and therefore should be taught in schools? Or no, should we have some secular version? (If it exists, please point me towards it.) Or is this something to be taught only at home (fine by me)?

While am I all for freedom, it should be noted that the anthropologic definition of "culture" is "shared understandings" and thus if we have any basic culture, shouldn't we have some basic shared value system?

DISCLAIMERS:

I am not a Christian.
I do not want to live in a Theocracy of any kind, unless I am the Deity.
I often disagree with Dennis Prager and his kind.
4th Law of Robotics: If a human's beer glass is more than 75% empty, refill immediately.

First Post

This blog is basically going to be for posts that I don't want to inflict on NiHowdy.

Probably more political and a place to stash the alcohol fueled posts that I occasionally post, then regret and pull down only to be told by Karl that it was hilarious.