7/29/03
I found strange pleasure in this article in the Miami Herald. It seems we have a lot of ignorant "tour guides" roaming around, dispensing bogus history and celebrity information to unwitting (and probably uncaring) touristas. To rectify this situation, the Miami-Dade County Commission is considering licensing guides, and requiring a five-day, thirty-hour course to get the certificate. Needless to say, the scam artists (and guide companies) are against the idea.

I took the simple quiz in the paper, and I only missed four out of ten, and I've never taken a class in local history. I guess some stuff just sticks via osmosis.

Why is Joe Leiberman a member of the Democratic party? He is pro-war, pro-censorship, and just about Republican in everything but name.

Kerry or Graham seems to be the best bets... I like Graham, because he's got a pretty solid record on Capitol Hill. He has potential and appeals to a wide range of people, but he'll have to start making an effort real soon. Kerry is the one most likely to win the nomination. A decorated war veteran, he has become very outspoken in criticizing Bush on everything from the war to the economy to his Medicare bill. (I've bookmarked 'em on realchange.org, because I want to see what dirt pops up over time.)

I'm rather surprised that not much political advertising has risen up yet... I'd think that they need to get cracking, even with the current administration lately coming under increasing criticism on its policies in Iraq. Bush's approval rating has dropped to the pre-war level of 55 per cent, according to new Time/CNN opinion poll on Friday. As there is an eight per cent drop in President Bush's rating in May, 50 per cent of the respondents said they are very or somewhat likely to vote for Bush in the next year's election.

The landlord is knocking on the neighbor's door... My feeling is that if a person doesn't come after five minutes of knocking, or call out, leave 'em alone. Don't keep on banging like you're building a new house starting with his door.

I'm a big Bollywood dork for wanting to see both Saathiya and Kaante.

When I first saw this on my news collector, I thought it was going to take me to The Onion or some other gag news site. Sadly, this is a legit story. Pentagon's Futures Market Plan Condemned.

The Pentagon is setting up a stock-market style system in which investors would bet on terror attacks, assassinations and other events in the Middle East. Defense officials hope to gain intelligence and useful predictions while investors who guessed right would win profits.

[Democratic Sen. Byron] Dorgan described it as useless, offensive and "unbelievably stupid."

"Can you imagine if another country set up a betting parlor so that people could go in ... and bet on the assassination of an American political figure, or the overthrow of this institution or that institution?" he said.

Ugh.. and I thought *I* had a ghoulish streak.