Friday, July 02, 2004

So, Will They Call Bill Cosby Uncle Tom?

Bill Cosby was just recently in the news for calling the black community to task, and today, I see he’s made the news again, for the same reason.

"You’ve got to stop beating up your women because you can’t find a job, because you didn’t want to get an education and now you’re (earning) minimum wage,” Cosby said. “You should have thought more of yourself when you were in high school, when you had an opportunity."

“Cosby Has Harsh Words for Black Community."

Is the truth really “harsh,” or just difficult to swallow?

Via Drudge.

Posted by John Venlet on 07/02 at 02:17 AM
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Thursday, July 01, 2004

Spaced, Out

The initial buzz surrounding Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne has faded from the air, as quickly as the initial space flight itself.  I know Time magazine didn’t think much of it, they gave the event a whole 198 words, and titled the piece “Space Toy." Though I didn’t post on the initial flight, I followed the news reports regarding the flight, and noted the hopes associated with this accomplishment.

This morning, I read a post written by Mike Soja, at No Treason, which makes me think that Time’s “Space Toy” dismissal of the event, may be closer to reality than I initially thought.  From Mike’s post.

"Asked last week when he’d start accepting paying passengers for his now-proven SpaceShipOne, [Rutan’s] answer was essentially “never”— because it might cost upwards of $200 million to get the ship certified for passengers by the FAA.

Not without reason, folks in the space travel industry cite the near-extinction of the general aviation business in the name of “safety.” Until Congress intervened, lawsuits drove manufacturers out of the business, leaving enthusiasts less safe because they were stuck flying aircraft that had been built and certified 50 years earlier."

$200 million for a certificate.  Ladies and gentlemen, the line forms to the left.

Mike’s post is titled “More benefits of the state… “

Posted by John Venlet on 07/01 at 02:38 AM
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Fine Air Scare

Yesterday, I noticed a few articles dealing with fine-air particle standards, as set by the EPA.  The articles mostly dealt with areas around the U.S. which failed these recently adopted stringent standards.  Here’s one article, from the FresnoBee, noting that the "San Joaquin Valley flunks..., these standards.

The EPA’s reasoning, for setting these new standards, is as follows.

"EPA officials in Washington said pollution kills 15,000 people annually. In the Valley, more than 1,200 people die prematurely each year from air pollution, according to state figures."

Scary stuff.

Compare the above article, to this article, written by Michael Fumento, titled “Dirty air? Or dirty tricks?," which was put out on the wire by the Scripps Howard News Service. An excerpt from Fumento’s article.

"You might not think you’re coughing and gasping for air, but, trust them _ you are. In fact, “fine particle pollution (technically known as PM2.5) from U.S. power plants cuts short the lives of nearly 24,000 people each year, including 2,800 from lung cancer,” says the report. And we’re not talking about losing a few days, but rather an average of 14 years. Air pollution also causes more than 38,000 nonfatal heart attacks and more than half a million cases of asthma, it claims.

Better, it seems, to smoke four packs of Camels a day than live near a coal- or oil-fired plant. But letting just a little ray of sunshine come through that soot-blackened air, here’s what we find."

Maybe we should all just start wearing masks, ala the Gloved One.

Posted by John Venlet on 07/01 at 02:19 AM
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