Culture: Lots of Iraqi Good News, Few Idiots of the Week

Culture Watch vol. 36
Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com
October 13, 2008

God is still smiling.

---

No, Shirley, the world hasn't melted down. Despite the media insistence that the US is once again facing an unprecedented crisis, there remains much to celebrate.

Yes, the US seems to have started down the path of socialism. The good news is, Americans are starting to realize this. And they're starting to protest. Polls are showing that a vast majority of the American people are, once again, at odds with the political and media elites. They are against the recent bailouts of Wall Street. And even though a new global poll found of 17 countries found a huge preference for Obama to be our next president in 16 of those countries, the same poll showed America still preferred McCain.

As the media focus on all the problems of the world, almost unnoticed, is the fact that there is still plenty of:

GOOD NEWS


Remember Iraq? Not too long ago it was problem number one for the American people. Lo and behold, Iraq is now doing very nicely. The Iraqi stock exchange is booming. Last month, the general index increased 40%. Year to date, Iraq's fledgling stock exchange has increased 25%, due to improved security.


Remember Sadr City? Until 6 months ago, Sadr City was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the Iraq war. Today, schools are back in session. As we reported last week, Baghdad is in the process of being turned into a vacation hotspot. Can we say 'Mission Accomplished' yet?

It looks like Iraq thinks so. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister has told Britain that their combat forces are no longer necessary to maintain security. Go on home, he says.


Our military services, including their reserve components, have all met their recruiting goals for fiscal 2008. I guess our military is doing fine, despite what the media would have us believe.

With the war on terror increasingly including Afghanistan, the word is, we're kicking butt there, too. Taliban fighters suffered one of their heaviest defeats on Sunday when scores were killed in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand. Its getting so terrorists can't find a safe haven anywhere these days.




Other terror nations, like Iran, are starting to feel the crunch of lowered gas prices, with oil prices plunging as we speak. This is bad news for the bad guys. Lower oil prices are cutting into their terror budgets in a big way. Who knows, pretty soon these countries may not be able to afford all those one way tickets to martyr's paradise.

For Americans, however, its good news indeed. The national average price for self-serve, regular unleaded gas fell 35.03 cents to $3.3079 a gallon on October 10 from $3.6582 two weeks earlier.

Despite the financial crisis that has left America and other highly ranked nations facing market meltdown, the US has again topped a widely-watched index ranking country competitiveness.
Meanwhile there is also good news in the
CULTURE WAR:

The left suffered a devastating defeat as the Supreme Court refused to grant a new trial to one of their icons, convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. I guess Mumia will have to be content to be the left's new martyr. And he didn't even have to blow himself up. Just shoot a cop. Go figure.

In California, the words 'bride' and 'groom' have been reinstated on all marriage license applications, replacing the androgynous 'applicant A,' and 'applicant B.' Hey, its a start.
In Arizona, Americans now have the right to sport 'choose life' license plates. A small but important victory, achieved only after a long legal fight.

A McDonalds executive who had been on the board of directors of the national Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has stepped down following a successful boycott of McDonalds.

A little noticed news item has huge ramifications for our floundering political system. In Indiana, two challengers for a congressional seat have agreed to be hooked up to lie detectors during a debate. The incumbent's party dismissed the idea as 'bizarre,' which indicates to me that they have the most to hide. Here's hoping this becomes a trend.


More good news - RightBias could not find enough idiots this week to publish a separate list. You'll have to be content with just one:
IDIOT OF THE WEEK AWARD:

Bureaucrats in Switzerland win first place this week. Apparently, geneticists in Switzerland must now conduct their research on genetically modified rice, corn and apples 'without trampling on a plant's dignity.' Which begs the question, "How does one humiliate an apple?" Inquiring minds want to know.

In these chaotic times, I hope you all remember that there's plenty of good news out there. America has survived far worse things than venal politicians and amoral rent seekers.


Till next Monday, keep smiling,


by Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com

Culture Watch may be reprinted, with attribution to RightBias.com

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Dead: Albert Hofmann, LSD Inventor Takes Final Trip

Albert Hofmann, the inventor of the mind-blowing, day-tripping drug LSD, has passed on to another reality.

LSD inspired millions in the 1960s hippie generation to "turn on, tune in, drop out".

Hofmann was 102. He died yesterday at his home in Burg im Leimental, Switzerland, where he retired to in 1971.

LSD may have been banned and blamed for the corruption of youth, but Hofmann defended his invention with the zeal of a father.

"I produced the substance as a medicine. ... It's not my fault if people abused it," he once said.

The Swiss chemist discovered lysergic acid diethylamide-25 in 1938 while studying the medicinal uses of a fungus found on wheat and other grains at the Sandoz pharmaceuticals firm in Basel.

He became the first human guinea pig of the drug when a tiny amount of the substance seeped onto his finger during a laboratory experiment on April 16, 1943.

"I had to leave work for home because I was suddenly hit by a sudden feeling of unease and mild dizziness," he subsequently wrote in a memo to company bosses.

He said his initial experience resulted in "wonderful visions."

"What I was thinking appeared in colors and in pictures," he told a Swiss television network for a program marking his 100th birthday two years ago. "It lasted for a couple of hours and then it disappeared."

But then Hofmann experimented with a larger dose and went on a "bad trip".

"Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror," he said, describing his bicycle ride home. "I had the impression I was rooted to the spot. But my assistant told me we were actually going very fast."

"The substance which I wanted to experiment with took over me. I was filled with an overwhelming fear that I would go crazy. I was transported to a different world, a different time," Hofmann wrote.

Pharmaceutical giant Sandoz sold LSD 25 under the name Delysid and promoted it to doctors, urging them to try it themselves. It was hoped that LSD would be an important treatment for mental illnesses.

LSD was one of the strongest of medicines: a couple of grams was enough to drug 20-40,000 people for up to 12 hours.

Hofman lived long enough to applaud the decision by Swiss authorities last year to allow LSD to be used in therapy experiments.

There was no word if the funeral music will include selections by the Jefferson Airplane or the Grateful Dead.


by Mondoreb
image: wikipedia
Source: Albert Hofmann, Father of drug LSD, dies in Switzerland


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Man Made Climate Change: More Sobering Evidence from Around the World

"[The] climate crisis is significantly worse and unfolding more rapidly".
--Al Gore, in Switzerland

"The snow, the worst in a decade in many places, has hit most of China since Jan. 12, leaving homes collapsed, power blackouts, highways closed and crops destroyed."
--Chinese weather agency



While Al Gore was in Switzerland, trying to raise the alarm on global warming, the forces of man-made climate change turned deadly in China.

Environmentalists continue to warn those who raise a deaf ear against the catastrophic results of man-made climate change.

The Earth's future hangs in the very balance.

For those who will not listen, more gloomy climate news is as near as their local newspaper.

China’s prime minister rushed south from the capital to show his concern for millions of travellers stranded by snowstorms and blizzards, only to fall victim himself to the worst winter weather in China for half a century.

The extreme weather is now thought to have killed more than 50 people after two buses crashed today.

As if this sad news of the results of mankind's continued use of fossil fuels wasn't enough, there was additional startling news closer to home.

A freak snowstorm has hit British Columbia, causing at least one death, with chaos in some areas and outages in others.

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority was last night attempting to restore normal electricity service to 2,500 customers in Maple Ridge who were affected when a fire engine flipped over and ruptured a power line.

In the U.S., Gore's climate theories might finally get the respect they deserve as Los Angeles fell victim to man's climate madness.

Despite the normal prevailing winds, 80-degree temperatures, and relentless sunshine a localized freak snowstorm hit the heart of Los Angeles producing intermittent limited visibility and occasional measurable accumulation. Residents were completely surprised by the unusual patterns and local forecasters could find no explanation or record of similar occurrences.

The former Vice President has these sober words for a listening world yesterday.

At a session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Gore warned that the climate crisis was worsening.

"We could take the whole session talking just about the new scientific evidence of the last few weeks and months," said Mr Gore, who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to fight climate change.

He added that the "climate crisis is significantly worse and unfolding more rapidly".

More evidence for "climate change deniers" to ponder as they seek to obstruct Gore's plans of more taxes and regulations to counter the menace that threatens the entire world.

John McCain, running for president on the Republican ticket, is one of the few candidates who has tried to address the coming disaster that is global warming. McCain agrees that the U.S. isn't doing enough to stop this ecological time bomb.

Al Gore isn't kidding.

Time is running out.

Will no one do something?

by Mondoreb
images: RidesAPaleHorse;schooltube
Sources:
* 50 dead as snowstorm chaos hits China
* 500,000 Still Stranded in Guangzhou
* Freak Snowstorm Hits BC
* Freak Snowstorm Hits LA



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