I've been following this story for a while now, and very frankly don't know what to make of it. Ivan Rybkin is the opposition candidate running against Vladimir Putin for the Russian Presidency. The election is scheduled for March 14th. Last week, his driver and bodyguard dropped him off at his Moscow home. That was the last time that he was seen for days. By Monday of last week an investigation into his possible murder started. Then stopped. About an hour after publicly saying that the ca...

Tomorrow at noon I am going to pick up "my best girl," my 9-year old daughter Lauren, and take her with me to donate blood at Red Cross. This will be my 23rd donation since 1994 according to Red Cross. Actually, I think that they missed some, but who is counting? If the donation of blood isn't a sufficient good deed, I get to be a role model at the same time! Bonus!!! Plus, I just like sharing the experience. Anything I do with my kids around is good. It makes me feel good. I will be hap...

According to CNN, a source close to the candidate says that Wesley Clark will endorse John Kerry in his quest for the Democratic nomination. Retired Army Gen. stopped short of confirming the rumor, saying only that "I'm looking forward to seeing John tomorrow." If accurate, Gen. Clark's endorsement would certainly boost the chances for John Kerry, who has won 12 of the first 14 primaries. The next Democratic primary is in Wisconsin. In my opinion, in order for any Democratic candidate...

I am a member of many communities, this being one and an important one. One of my theories (and I have a LOT of theories!) is that the measure of how commited a person is to a community is there willingness to accept dissenting points of view. I think that I am pretty tolerant, but I resolve to be even more so in the future. Why? Because this community is important to me. I come here to write, to express my thoughts and opinions. I also come here to read, to learn about other points of view a...

Earlier tonight, researching a response to a post about Israel's supposedly one-sided war against the PLO, I came across an open letter from the head of the World Lebanese Organization to the American Congress. It is linked here and is certainly worth reading for anyone interested in the truth about the Middle East, about the fate of Christians in that part of the world and for humanitarians in general. The letter calls attention to the plight of the Christian community in Lebanon which lives...

There is a dangerous myth, growing in acceptance. The myth that Israel, by virtue of it's very existence, is denying the Palestinian people their rightful homeland. I would move that this is untrue, that the "Palestinian people" is a misnomer. As I have pointed out before, words have power and shape our ideas and perceptions. It would be very different morally to argue that their are Jordanians living outside the borders of Jordan who want land that is not theirs and will use any means necessary...

As Sales Manager for Stardock, we are constantly finding new uses for our technologies. For the past two years Stardock has created desktop themes as an integral part of marketing programs for some of the largest and most innovative companies in the world. Nintendo, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Touchstone Pictures, Universal Studios and other corporations have licensed Stardock’s desktop customization products as part of their successful marketing efforts. This article explores why desktop customization h...

Stardock's forthcoming strategy game, The Political Machine, is previewed at FileFront. The summary of the game is as follows: The Political Machine from Stardock is a strategy game where you take on the role of campaign manager for a US presidential candidate. Your job is to get your candidate elected to President of the United States. You choose (or design) your own Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates and begin in the first week of January of the election year. From there, ...

***WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SOME SATIRE MEANT FOR ADULT SENSIBILITIES! THERE IS NO INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE, BUT THERE ARE SOME ELEMENTS THAT MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME. SATIRE HAS LONG BEEN USED TO DRAMATIZE A POINT AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE ORIGIANL "MODEST PROPOSAL' REFERENCES, I SUGGEST THAT YOU LOOK UP JONATHAN SWIFT. NO HARM IS INTENDED BY THIS POST.********* White collar crime has reached epidemic proportions in America today. The CEOs of WorldCom, Enron, Tyco and others hav...

I have written several posts about the conflict in Israel. In one of them entitled "What Do We Do About Hamas?" I argued that the members of this terrorist organization have a vested interest in keeping the pot stirred up and little personal incentive to negotiate a peace, as that would mean abrogating their ont-inconsiderable power. You can see the original article at http://kupe.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=194 Today I attended an educational seminar put on by B'tselem which defines itself as ...

I saw this article on CNN this morning: "President Bush next week will lay out his "vision for expanding the space program," which is expected to include long-term proposals for manned missions to the moon and an eventual manned mission to Mars, senior administration officials say." The proposed date for the next moon flight would be 2018. Also rumoured is an eventual manned flight to Mars. The current shuttle fleet would be retired and replaced with more modern technology and the curre...

Last month Chuck Richison's water bill was $55. This month it was a little bigger- $7,714,510.21. Chuck kept his sense of humor about it: "It was the 21 cents that got me," he said. "You're not too worried about it because you know even if it is real, you can't afford to pay it." Chuck had had his meter replaced and the new meter didn't work that well. (I guess!) He called the Utility Business Office for help -- only to be told the meter hadn't been misread. The city later adjusted th...

Let me begin by saying I worked for George McGovern in 1972. It was a disaster, much worse than the man deserved. It was a severe setback for Liberal politics in America. I see Howard Dean falling into the same pattern now. In 1972, Richard Nixon was the incumbent President. Our nation was involved in the Vietnam war, which had become highly unpopular by that time. The nation was polarized around the war. The Democratic party favorite seemed to be Hubert H. Humphrey, who had served as our Vic...

If you were a baseball fan in the seventies, you will remember Tug McGraw as the pitcher that coined the phrase "You Gotta Believe." That was the rallying cry for the NY Mets in those years. Tug McGraw was a starting pitcher for the Mets in 1973 when, seemingly against all odds, they won the National League pennant. More than just a starter, Tug was a fan favorite for his irreverant (and sometimes off color) sense of humor. When asked by a reporter if he preferred an artificial surface such a...

The United States has rushed to the aid of earthquake victims in Iran. While we may end up at war with the government of Iran in the near future, I think that it shows the humanity of Americans that we have rushed to help the Iranian people. The death toll after the recent earthquake in the city of Bam now stands at 28,000. Without food, blankets and medical supplies, more people would have died. So far, the United States has rushed over 168.5 tons of supplies to the region. Now the US is ...