iPod Update

Now that I've had an iPod for several months, let me give an update to those few of you who don't already own one. You know who you are. Its a nice gadget, I'll admit. I'm not sure if its worth the 250 clams that I laid out, but since my daughter hasn't had to go hungry I guess I could afford it. Other than a replacement related to a sledding tragedy I've had no complaints thus far. I'm still waiting for it to change my life, as a doctor I worked with insisted that it would. I drive an hour to work each way, so I listen to a podcast on the way to work and music coming home. I use it in the gym, and I keep some photos to share with others. Truth be known I'd be just as well off with another MP3 player with a capacity of 4GB or so. I'll update again when I have the life-changing epiphany.

Columbia University and Ahmadinejab

I may need to apologize to Columbia University. When given a chance to get up in front of an audience of American college kids, the president of Iran managed to make himself look like a complete tool. I don't know if that was Columbia's President Lee Bollinger's aim, but it was certainly the result. Judging from his introduction I think that he had an idea what Ahmadinejad's speech would sound like. "We have no homosexuals" and "What Holocaust?" He might be somewhat deluded and hyper religious, but Ahmadinejad isn't stupid. My best guess is that he just doesn't realize the demographics would include a sizable number of both Jews and homosexuals, at least compared with a representative sample of the rest of America. Then again, maybe he did and was just playing to the home audience knowing that in America, not even Bush-hating lefties would warm up to him. (for an exception read here)
In Iran there probably aren't as many open homosexuals as there are in NYC, not least due to the unfortunate risk of stone-based kinetic energy poisoning so common in Tehran. As for hoping that New Yorkers will buy the story that there was no Holocaust, tell them that Babe Ruth never lived and 9-11 never happened.
I'll say this about Ahmadinejad; he does have balls. While I'd like to think that someday an American-built smart bomb will blow them off, its more likely that he will die in bed. Just not in another guy's bed because they don't have that in Iran.

Photographic Evidence of American Troops Abusing Children

Those children look terrified. Just another jack-booted Bush-loving thug out to oppress the indigenous victims of Big Oil. Those kids are in fear for their lives...

Seriously, from my experience I'm guessing that the kids are looking for some candy or Beanie Babies.

(photo courtesy of http://www.mnf-iraq.com/)

Taxing the Hand That Feeds Us - New York Times

Taxing the Hand That Feeds Us - New York Times
While Democrats might not be saying much about tax increases (yet,) they aren't saying much about new restrictions on gun ownership (yet) either. Both are key components of the Democrat parties guiding philosophy. Increased governmental spending programs, regulation, and oversight should be the primary method to enact social agenda; and that requires more government tax receipts which in turn require more tax collection. Increased tax collection requires more taxes which require tax increases. Tiresome to write and more tiresome to live through.
This article however is about the apparent lack of interest by the Republican presidential candidates in talking about tax cuts per se. I'm glad for that, though. It gives me hope that somebody may be more interested in spending less money instead.

Belgium to split in two, world yawns and goes back to sleep

Color me unexcited