Archive for January, 2003
Mark Feb. 15th on your calendar!
Saturday, February 15th will be a world-wide day of action against the Bush Administration’s proposed war on Iraq. An unprecedented number of coordinated protests will be held around the globe: in Amsterdam, Athens, Bangkok, Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, Copenhagen, Dublin, Glasgow, Helsinki, Istanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Oslo, Paris, Ramallah, Rome, San Francisco, San […]
Bush’s Prescription Drug Plan Bad for Republicans
Tapped has an interesting post on this:
The point is, if you say the only way to get a prescription drug benefit is to join a managed care plan, seniors who live in places where such plans are not available won’t be able to get a drug benefit. This is an especially big problem in rural […]
Make discount train fares accessible to low-income New Yorkers!
The NY Straphangers campaign as some interesting ideas about how to change the MetroCard fare system used on New York City mass transit. Currently many low-income riders cannot afford to pay the $63 for a monthly pass! Discounted bi-weekly passes would address this issue! (More suggestions on their site.)
Nearly one-half (45%) of lower-income riders surveyed […]
War Against Illogic and Hypocrisy.
Michael Kinsley has a nice piece on the lack of logical and hence moral grounding in Bush’s State of the Union speech.
On Saddam as “evil”:
If Saddam’s human-rights practices morally require the United States to act, why are we waiting for Hans Blix? Or if the danger that Saddam will develop and use weapons of mass […]
More on Oil
Two interesting articles about Oil in Iraq - from the Cato institute and the Wall Street Journal no less!
They point out that even if “security” concerns are the primary reason for going to war, oil isn’t far behind - and if there is a war, oil will become one of the primary issues. As the […]
Guardian analysis of Blix Report
This Guardian UK article provides a very thorough analysis of the Hans Blix report to the UN. Each of the key points made by the UN inspectors is commented on by experts. The result is an interesting mix of hyperbole and uncertainty.
Civilian Costs of a War in Iraq
WHO estimates that 100,000 Iraqi civilians could be wounded and another 400,000 hit by disease after the bombing of water and sewage facilities and the disruption of food supplies.
Courtesy of the Guardian UK.
Growth of the PC industry and Mac Share
The first personal computer, the MITS Altair 8080, was released in 1975 and changed the world forever. A handful of geeks (Bill Gates included) saw this humble $395 kit as the beginning of something big… but nobody knew how big!
… The following graphs reveal some of the story, and show the incredible growth of the […]
Pictures you won’t be seeing.
You can be sure when the next Gulf War starts we won’t be seeing many pictures like this.
Something to think about when you read stuff like this:
On the first day of war the United States will rain down 300-400 cruise missiles on Iraq, according to a report by CBS news. That averages out at one […]
Report says environmental degradation further strains Afghanistan’s Reconstruction
The team’s report says the years of conflict have led to the “collapse of local and national governance, destroyed infrastructure, hindered agricultural activity and driven people into cities already lacking the most basic public amenities”.
…Two million refugees returned to Afghanistan last year, and 1.5m more are expected in 2003, putting further strains on the country […]
An anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, 
