McDonalds wants to alter definition of word "McJob"
Good luck with that , Ronald. (HT: C&L )
Posts
The more I read about guerilla warfare...
...the more hopeless our occupation of Iraq seems to me. I just read this post on Firedoglake : This is the most important point in this entire essay [ Mao's essay on Guerrilla warfare ], and indeed the most important thing you need to know about guerrilla warfare, occupations, terrorism and insurgency. If the movement has the support of the population, they cannot be destroyed. Period. No matter how many you manage to kill, there will always be more. Now support doesn’t mean “do you prefer the guerrilla movement” in a poll, it means practical support - are they willing to feed them, hide them and act as their ears and eyes. The general estimate is that if a guerrilla movement has between 10% to 20% of the population of an area behind it , until you can break that support of the population for the guerrillas, any victories over them will be purely temporary.(2) [emphasis added.] Between 10% and 20% is all you need to make all victories futile? Well, back in September 2006, there wa...
My zombie nieces
Maybe they had an unfortunate encounter with our zombie president . My nieces can be such clowns.
New Star Wars RPG is out
Image from Wizards of the Coast WARNING: This post is likely to be uninteresting to the non-RPG gaming folks among my readership. The new edition of the Star Wars Roleplaying game is out. Here's a link to the list of preview pages WotC put up. I have it and have been reading through it. Many of us D&D players are poring over the system, because many of the changes that might be coming to the D&D system are being "test driven" in the Star Wars system. (Both systems are based on the same d20 mechanic .) Here are some highlights of the new system: Skills have been simplified . Many have been combined. For example, Search, Spot, Listen, and Sense Motive are now all part of the Perception skill. Skill ranks have been eliminated: either you're trained in a skill or not. The skill focus feat has been boosted to +5, and feats are more available. Skill synergies and racial bonuses to skills have been eliminated. Generating a high-level character can now be done much...
Lobbyists shocked they actually have to convince Democrats
OK, I was disappointed that the barely Democratic Congress didn't have the guts to end the occupation of Iraq. But still, we have to realize that things are much better than when Republicans were in control. For example, Republican lobbyists are now reduced to the extremity of actually making a convincing argument when trying to get a lawmaker to do something. Here's C&L quoting Roll Call : Several Democratic and Republican lobbyists agreed GOP consultants often get it wrong with Democrats because their corporate pitch is such an easy sell in Republican offices, which already are ideologically sympathetic to businesses’ concerns. Meeting with Democrats, some Republicans neglect to factor in a much wider array of constituencies that hold sway with the new majority, including labor, environmental and consumer groups. “Republican lobbyists are used to walking into an office and just saying, ‘ I’d like you to do this ,’” said one Republican operative who regularly lobbies ac...
Scooter Libby's friends piss off the judge
A bunch of Scooter Libby's supporters filed a brief on his behalf with the judge in the case, one Reggie B. Walton. Apparently, Judge Walton was not impressed with this show of support, and appended this footnote to his order allowing the submission of the brief: It is an impressive show of public service when twelve prominent and distinguished current and former law professors of well-respected schools are able to amass their collective wisdom in the course of only several days to provide their legal expertise to the Court on behalf of a criminal defendant. The Court trusts that this is a reflection of these eminent academics' willingness in the future to step to the plate and provide like assistance in cases involving any of the numerous litigants, both in this Court and throughout the courts of our nation, who lack the financial means to fully and properly articulate the merits of their legal positions even in instances where failure to do so could result in monetary penal...