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Monthly Archives February 2005

The Profit Motive

Business owners do not normally work for money either. They work for
the enjoyment of their competitive skill, in the context of a life
where competing skillfully makes sense. The money they earn supports
this way of life. The same is true of their businesses. One might
think that they view their businesses as nothing more than machines to
produce profits, since they do closely monitor their accounts to keep
tabs on those profits.

But this way of thinking replaces the point of the machine’s activity
with a diagnostic test of how well it is performing. Normally, one
senses whether one is performing skillfully. A basketball player does
not need to count baskets to know whether the team as a whole is in
flow. Saying that the point of business is to produce profit is like
saying that the whole point of playing basketball is to make as many
baskets as possible. One could make many more baskets by having no
opponent.

Continue reading... (263 words, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)
Posted 22 February 2005 § Economics ‡ Comments (0) °

Soldiers Xing

Not sure if this is what the Administration had in mind when they asked for more veteran’s benefits:

The US food and drug administration has given the go-ahead for the soldiers to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Guardian

 
Posted 18 February 2005 § Ephemera ‡ Comments (0) °

Can We Stop Torturing People, Please?

An Iraqi whose corpse was photographed with grinning U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib died under CIA interrogation while in a position condemned by human rights groups as torture — suspended by his wrists, with his hands cuffed behind his back, according to reports reviewed by The Associated Press.

AP

 
Posted 18 February 2005 § War ‡ Comments (0) °

Negroponte, Iran-Contra

Negroponte was the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras during the illegal war we backed in Nicaragua, when Honduras was being used as a base for the Contra rebels. His complicity in that scandal is now being used as a credential in his new position as intelligence czar.

Washington Post

 
Posted 18 February 2005 § Politics and Policy ‡ Comments (0) °

Malick Sidibé

Malick Sidibé is so natty it hurts.

erotafrsidi01g.jpg

 
Posted 18 February 2005 § Ephemera ‡ Comments (0) °

Great Moments in Press Obstruction

Q. Why — if you’re suggesting that people will debate the numbers, that’s kind of a backhanded way to say, oh, who cares about the numbers. Well, apparently, the President’s top economic advisors do, because that’s why they wrote a very large report and sent it to Congress. So why was the prediction made in the first place, if the President and you and his Treasury Secretary were going to just back away from it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, I disagree with the premise of the way you stated that. This is the annual Economic Report of the President and the economic modeling is done this way every year. It’s been done this way for 20-some years.

Q. So why not — why aren’t you standing behind it?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think what the President stands behind is the policies that he is implementing, the policies that he is advocating. That’s what’s important.

Q. That’s not in dispute. The number is the question.

MR. McCLELLAN: I know, but the President’s concern is on the number of jobs being created –

Q. My question is, why was the prediction made –

Continue reading... (289 words, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)
Posted 18 February 2005 § Politics and Policy ‡ Comments (0) °

Not A Front, More Like A Regular Poker Game

“Today we do not want to form a front against anybody, particularly not against the United States,” Imad Moustapha said.

I can’t imagine why anyone would have thought that…

Yahoo!

 
Posted 17 February 2005 § War ‡ Comments (0) °