Map: Today's tech job hot spots | CNET News.com

Map: Today's tech job hot spots | CNET News.com.

At least I live in the right area.

Disgruntled Troops Complain to Rumsfeld

WTOPNEWS.com has an article via AP about how Rummy conducted what was supposed to be a pep rally, but he faced some tough questions. He answered with the usual flip remarks.

Arundhati Roy

I conservative co-worker brought this opinion article from the Wall Street to my attention and asked those of us addressed in the mail if we supported it Arundhati Roy's position. Probably the specific quote

Ms. Roy made an appeal to people to "become the Iraqi resistance," adding that activists "need to understand that Iraq is engaging in the frontlines of empire and we have to throw our weight behind the Iraqi resistance."

is what made him send it out. While I do not support that view other parts of the article do ring true to me.

1. George Bush and Osama bin Laden need each other to be successful in their domains. Where would Mr. Bush be without 9/11? 9/11 provided Mr. Bush with an external enemy to draw our attention away from significant domestic issues and other, less actionable, foreign policy issues (Sudan, North Korea, Iran).
2. The US's overly pro-Israel policies are the seed of much Islamic fear and loathing. I'm beginning to suspect that the dirty little secret of the US religious right is that they are fighting a crusade. I've heard enough comments by callers and guests on conservative talk shows to indicate that this may be true. Also, I saw a show on the Sundance Channel, repeated again Wednesday night, that greatly reinforced this suspicion.
   

I'd love to hear comments.

Do not call list for cellphones

Francine just sent me an email:

DO NOT CALL LIST FOR CELLULAR TELEPHONES


According to the Federal Trade Commission, a directory of cell phone numbers will soon be published for access to all consumers. This will open the doors for solicitors to call you on your cell phones, using up precious minutes for which the receiving customers are required to pay. The Federal Trade Commission has set up a "do not call" list.

To be included on the "do not call" list, you can go to their web site at www.donotcall.gov and add your number(s) to the do not call list. While this email advisory pertains to cell phones, this same web site and process can be used to block your home phone as well.


Please contact the Center for Security and Emergency Actions at 202-606-2007 if you have any questions or require any assistance.

Update:
This was a hoax.

Sex Ed in Montgomery County

I'm on a maillist for my son's high school and I came across a firestorm about the proposed new sex ed curriculum. There's even a new web site in support of recalling the Board of Education (BOE).

I posted this message there:

I am not in favor of the current BOE program, but not enough to participate in a recall election.

I would agree that this subject should be addressed in the home except for the fact that many parents are unequipped or unwilling to address it. My parents had a hard enough time doing a terrible job at telling me and my brother about the "birds and the bees."

We need to find a sensible way of addressing the behavior of a significant part of the human population. Homosexuality has been a part of human culture throughout human history. Some of us are just wired that way. However, I think that some unsure people decide to adopt a lifecycle.

To me the issue is how can we accept those that are wired that way while encouraging the unsure not to adopt a lifestyle that they are not wired for. I don't know about you, but I have members of my extended family who fall into both categories.

How would you feel if your son or daughter was born that way and society shunned them? Would you stop loving them? Would you ban them from your home? Where would they have had thanksgiving dinner?

If you believe in God, are they not God's creatures, too?

Maybe a solution is to offer a course for parents.