,Malaysia, Nicaragua,adultery

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

 

Hogs at the Trough (II) - Addicts and Pushers

*
"Crooked Capital", Howard Kurz writes in the Washington Post about the cozy relationships between lobbyists and legislators: "Of course, the Democrats don't have totally clean hands. Abramoff was friendly with some D's as well. Ohio's Jim (Beam Me Up) Trafficant is in jail on a 2002 bribery conviction. And Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson is under investigation over a telecommunications deal in Niger. The larger point is that both parties in Washington engage in what critics have called legalized bribery: taking money from special interests while voting on the legislation that affects them; taking golfing and other trips with lobbyists and then doing their bidding on the Hill. The scandal here is what's legal, not the relative few who have run afoul of the law. If Republicans are doing more of it, that may reflect the fact that they run Washington these days."

Don't expect things to change much. It is mutual--the legislators and special interest groups feed on each other. They will find ways to maintain the status quo.
*
Two Speeches - A World of Difference

The president read a speech at the Naval Academy, Annapolis,MD. See Daniela Deane's report in The Washington Post. About halfway through, when the president was describing how great things have become for the Iraqis, and then brought up the spectre of 9/11 (it has worked for him in the past) I switched him off. To use a cliché, I wouldn't buy an used car from him.

It was more interesting to read the speech to be given by Lord May, president of the Royal Society. Excerpts from Ian Sample's article "Fundamentalists threaten scientific progress" in the Guardian,UK:
*****

Comments:
Readers interested in nuclear power may want to check out "Rad Decision", a techno-thriller novel about the American nuclear power industry. Written by a longtime nuclear engineer, it provides an entertaining and accurate portrait of a nuclear power plant and how an accident might be handled. “Rad Decision” is at RadDecision.blogspot.com, at no cost to readers.

James Aach (author)
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Blogroll Me!