So this is woeful tale of a couple of Chinese guys…ever how innocent or guilty they might be of anything, even terrorism….and they came to be forced onto some island….and they weren’t supposed to be there.
There these four Chinese Uyghurs (don’t worry about pronunciations)....who are a bit Islamic in nature, but friendly Uyghurs (so we are told by the kindly folks at Gitmo). Somehow, in the mess of thing, the boys were accused of something terrible, and then rustled off to Gitmo. There, the four Uyghur dudes sat.
I would imagine that they kinda explained their bad luck and how they were so innocent. In the end….someone at Gitmo decided that they really were innocent (at least of terrorism). But now, what to do with four Chinese Uyghurs?
Apparently, going back to Afghanistan was not possible.
Apparently, going back to China was not possible.
Apparently, going to the US was not possible.
So for months, the four dudes sat around Gitmo. We can only imagine that they had an occasional ice cream cone, watched episodes of Jeopardy while learning English, read various books at the library within the compound, and maybe even tossed a few basketballs (at least, we can imagine this).
The boys longed to leave. Their lawyers wanted them to leave. The Bush administration came to agree that they really ought to leave. And even the Obama administration came to agree on this concept of just leaving. No one would take the boys.
So quietly, in the night….with discussions back and forth….a deal was worked out. We shall never know what the US government offered as part of the deal….it might be a nuclear plant, a dozen tugboats, a thousand tons of peanut butter even……but we gave enough of something so t that the government of Bermuda would take the four Uyghurs.
There was a minor problem with this deal. Apparently, for those of you with no knowledge of the magnificent geography world…..Bermuda is really a British island. It’s under the British flag and they simply have an appointed governor who runs things for the Queen and crown. The Obama government decided that it wouldn’t really ask the folks in the UK over this issue and simply went straight to the governor and the big players of Bermuda.
Yep, you can imagine the feel of hot British anger at your neck this weekend….as this episode came to fall into the news.
At the very least, David Miliband, who is the Foreign Secretary….called up Non-Czar Hillary Clinton, and announced British displeasure over this terrible thing.
Apparently, the boys were on the plane as this episode occurred. So they have arrived and found beautiful white sandy beaches.
Abdul Nasser (one of Uyghurs dudes) promptly announced as they got to the island….“let freedom ring”. Pretty nifty….something like Ben Franklin, or Jefferson, or Elvis would say.
I’m guessing the Uyghurs are sunning around on the beach none….sipping Pepsi…..tossing the volleyball around….and singing praises of Non-Czar Hillary. They have to be happy with the British slang and the fish & chips deal they get down at the wharf. Tonight? They will be watching Benny Hill and listening to some Elvis Costello.
The thing is…after a while….the fun of a British island will start to wane. The boys will start weeping over missed chances at Gitmo. Then some guy from 60 Minutes will show up and ask if they have any regrets….and then they’ll spill the beans that they really would like to be back home at Gitmo. So it goes….in our little world tonight.
Monday, 15 June 2009
Just a Letterman Moment
There's a great news item off Fox News..."Could Feud with Palin Boost Letterman?"
I sat and read it three or four times...then I asked myself....does this mean that Letterman was dead in his career prior to his "Palin-boost"?
If I were mainstream media....I'd be careful what I wrote. In this case....after the Palin-boost passes....then what? Is Letterman finished on evening TV in general? Or did the Palin-boost save his meager career? Do other loser TV show hosts need a Palin-boost....to survive? What if Palin goes away.....can Letterman and the losers survive?
Just some comments from a porch, far....far....far....away.
I sat and read it three or four times...then I asked myself....does this mean that Letterman was dead in his career prior to his "Palin-boost"?
If I were mainstream media....I'd be careful what I wrote. In this case....after the Palin-boost passes....then what? Is Letterman finished on evening TV in general? Or did the Palin-boost save his meager career? Do other loser TV show hosts need a Palin-boost....to survive? What if Palin goes away.....can Letterman and the losers survive?
Just some comments from a porch, far....far....far....away.
David Letterman and Bad Taste
I waited about a week, to respond to the David Letterman episode and Governor Palin of Alaska.
The "joke" that Letterman tossed out....wasn't that funny...and was borderline to being pretty bad taste.
Most folks.....whose jobs in life is just to be a media target.....deserve whatever comedians toss at them. This is a pretty wild group....from the beauty queen from California to Paris Hilton, from Hulk Hogan to Pamela Sue Anderson. The thing is...Palin's daughter isn't a media magnet, never was and never will be.
So I've decided that the best you can do is in this case....is to devise some Dave Letterman jokes....which are pitiful and bad....but deserving. So here’s my David Letterman joke: David Letterman visits the doctor for a checkup, and after some tests, the doctor comes in with a grave look on his face.
Doctor: Well, I have some bad news and some really bad news.
David Letterman: Well, give me the really bad news first.
Doctor: You have cancer, and only 6 months to live.
David Letterman: And the bad news?
Doctor: You have Alzheimer’s disease.
David Letterman: That’s great. I was afraid I had cancer!
I would suggest that the time has come to tell some really bad David Letterman jokes....which we can readily steal from various joke databases...and the emphasis here...is to tell some jokes which just aren’t that funny...and see who gets the “worst” one.
My feeling is that Dave will say anything about Alzheimer patients is in bad taste....but if so...where did he draw this line and how does that line come to exist?
The "joke" that Letterman tossed out....wasn't that funny...and was borderline to being pretty bad taste.
Most folks.....whose jobs in life is just to be a media target.....deserve whatever comedians toss at them. This is a pretty wild group....from the beauty queen from California to Paris Hilton, from Hulk Hogan to Pamela Sue Anderson. The thing is...Palin's daughter isn't a media magnet, never was and never will be.
So I've decided that the best you can do is in this case....is to devise some Dave Letterman jokes....which are pitiful and bad....but deserving. So here’s my David Letterman joke: David Letterman visits the doctor for a checkup, and after some tests, the doctor comes in with a grave look on his face.
Doctor: Well, I have some bad news and some really bad news.
David Letterman: Well, give me the really bad news first.
Doctor: You have cancer, and only 6 months to live.
David Letterman: And the bad news?
Doctor: You have Alzheimer’s disease.
David Letterman: That’s great. I was afraid I had cancer!
I would suggest that the time has come to tell some really bad David Letterman jokes....which we can readily steal from various joke databases...and the emphasis here...is to tell some jokes which just aren’t that funny...and see who gets the “worst” one.
My feeling is that Dave will say anything about Alzheimer patients is in bad taste....but if so...where did he draw this line and how does that line come to exist?
The Billions and Billions and Billions
After coming back off this Amsterdam trip...I came to note this mega announcement on government savings....which will translate into $950-odd billion...give or take a billion or two. It's funny I never really counted into the billions...until this year.
This of course, all relates to the government funding of universal healthcare, for America.
Somewhere in this announcement....was this neat mention of how $313 billion in savings would come from cutting or reducing the growth of payments to hospitals, medical equipment manufacturers and laboratories....then a bunch of talk was tossed around about how they'd find another $75 billion in drug savings...but so far no one knows how.
Somehow, over ten years...this would all add up (especially if you sip a good bit whiskey when thinking about numbers like this).
So you basically have to admit that each and every year, you....the government....were sponsoring public clinics throughout America with hardware, x-ray machines, lab equipment, q-tips, birth-control pills,wheel-chairs, etc.
So we'd basically terminate these programs and then hope entire deal is fairly done and they still get q-tips, lab equipment and x-ray machines....some how....some way.
My guess is that once you cancel these programs...then the whole health department that exists within the federal level....might as well come to an end too. Course, Senator Snuffy and Senator Tubby are both sitting there, and will quickly write some damn good legislation to help fund these various programs...while the President pretends that he really cut them. In the end, we'll just toss the old money and the new money into one pot and admit that 1.8 trillion dollars now exist and we don't know how such a silly thing could happen.
As for the $75 billion in drug cost cutting....I'm guessing that someone may eventually come up and admit that of all the drugs developed since 1985...forty-five percent do basically the same thing as stuff made before 1985.
If you wanted to make this drug cost discussion interesting....tell the meth guys that they could actually get the real recipe for alot of drugs....and start manufacturing clone drugs of the real stuff...and become national heroes by selling $100 drug doses for $20, and they'd still make $5 profit off each sale (illegally and without tax of course).
For some reason, if this was this easy to find $950-odd billion...couldn't we have done the stimulus package in the same fashion?
Just my suggestion, but we could lay off congress and the senate for five months out of the year, and not miss too much. I'd like to start saving with this idea.
This of course, all relates to the government funding of universal healthcare, for America.
Somewhere in this announcement....was this neat mention of how $313 billion in savings would come from cutting or reducing the growth of payments to hospitals, medical equipment manufacturers and laboratories....then a bunch of talk was tossed around about how they'd find another $75 billion in drug savings...but so far no one knows how.
Somehow, over ten years...this would all add up (especially if you sip a good bit whiskey when thinking about numbers like this).
So you basically have to admit that each and every year, you....the government....were sponsoring public clinics throughout America with hardware, x-ray machines, lab equipment, q-tips, birth-control pills,wheel-chairs, etc.
So we'd basically terminate these programs and then hope entire deal is fairly done and they still get q-tips, lab equipment and x-ray machines....some how....some way.
My guess is that once you cancel these programs...then the whole health department that exists within the federal level....might as well come to an end too. Course, Senator Snuffy and Senator Tubby are both sitting there, and will quickly write some damn good legislation to help fund these various programs...while the President pretends that he really cut them. In the end, we'll just toss the old money and the new money into one pot and admit that 1.8 trillion dollars now exist and we don't know how such a silly thing could happen.
As for the $75 billion in drug cost cutting....I'm guessing that someone may eventually come up and admit that of all the drugs developed since 1985...forty-five percent do basically the same thing as stuff made before 1985.
If you wanted to make this drug cost discussion interesting....tell the meth guys that they could actually get the real recipe for alot of drugs....and start manufacturing clone drugs of the real stuff...and become national heroes by selling $100 drug doses for $20, and they'd still make $5 profit off each sale (illegally and without tax of course).
For some reason, if this was this easy to find $950-odd billion...couldn't we have done the stimulus package in the same fashion?
Just my suggestion, but we could lay off congress and the senate for five months out of the year, and not miss too much. I'd like to start saving with this idea.
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