Pissing in the Wind
by John Constantine

Don't pee on my leg and tell me that it's raining...
        - A saying from the country of my birth

Things just get better and better.  On the one hand, we have China.  Here's a country that is trying to get us all to believe that somehow "one country, two systems" is something other than an oxymoron.  I just got to tell you guys over there: You're not really fooling anyone here, except yourselves.

Next, we have India and Pakistan.  Two countries with nuclear weapons, short tempers, and a border dispute.  If they can actually manage to survive this without killing the entire planet, then I think we'll all have learned at least something about not using the threat of death to negotiate with those we have to share this planet with.

Then again, we may have to live with the subcontinent very radioactive for the next FIVE THOUSAND YEARS.

We simply have to get off this planet.

Ireland seems to be still having internal problems.  At least they haven't started killing each other again - well, at least not yet.

We've seen the wounding of the head of the great beast - the Microsoft Antitrust Case.  Or, the Godzilla vs. Mothra.  No doubt it will thrive under whatever relief the government actually extracts.

We have dips and volatility in our holiest of places - the NASDAQ and the Dow.  Somehow, I think we'll see more before we'll see any less.  Actually, the averages will get so high that a 500 point inter day swing will barely register above a 1% change.  Stuff to notice, but not something to be concerned about.

So here's a question for all the liberal minded:  

What if the gap between the rich and the poor was still as great as it is today, but the poorest was as rich as Bill Gates is?

The problem I have with so called "social" conservatives, is that they think that somehow they feel that they would be robbed if there wasn't anyone who was dirt poor they could feel superior to.