various bits and pieces

here are a few things i've been meaning to post on for awhile, but kept getting distracted. if i don't give anyone credit for them, either i found it myself or it came from one of the other blogs i frequent, most likely wizbang or say anything.

1) hooray! for socialized medicine. if you like being shipped to india for your health care, that is. (wizbang)

2) liberals are insane. we all knew that already, but now we've got a psychiatrist to back us up. although much like the "global warming" debate, you could probably find people with all sorts of facts on both sides of the issue. (wizbang?)

3) governor spitzer of new york wants to tax illegal drugs. either he's incredibly stupid, or he thinks all of the dealers in his city are. who the hell is going to claim that they've got crack, and then pay a tax on it? surprisingly, 21 other states have tried this or something similar. maybe they're taking their cue from britain, where polygamy is illegal, but you can still get extra welfare benefits for your multiple wives.

4) my vote might be making it's comeback. if obama & mccain end up as the nominees, i may vote for mccain just to be voting against obama, who wants to send more money off to the UN to fight global poverty. i've got no problem fighting poverty, but don't do it through the UN. they're much more likely to deface historic sites, rape the locals, or take bribes from dictators. and on the off chance they get something right, why should they get credit for something when we're the ones putting up the funds for it? if you want something done right, do it yourself.

5) i'm not sure what to think of this site. i've gotten through the first 10 postings, and for the most part it's fairly entertaining. but at the same time, if they had called it "things black people like," it probably would have been shut down for being racist.

6) on a more positive note, i want one of these.

remind me again...

why do we still send money to these people?

UN peacekeepers in the disputed African territory of Western Sahara have vandalised ancient rock paintings, a UN official has told a UK newspaper.

~~~~

Graffiti, including the spray-painting of UN personnel's names, can be seen at Lajuad, an important archaeological site, Mr Harston said.

According to The Times, an area there known as Devil Mountain is regarded by the local Sahrawi people as a place of great cultural significance.

you'd think that after having been there for nearly 17 years (remember that number next time someone complains about how long we've been in iraq or afghanistan), they'd be able to find something better to do with their time. in theory at least, the united nations mission for the referendum in western sahara (MINRUSO) is tasked to "monitor the ceasefire and to organize and conduct a referendum which would allow the people of Western Sahara to decide the Territory's future status." 17 years later, the issue is still up in the air. we've spent less time in iraq and afghanistan combined, and have already overseen several successful elections in both countries. things are far from perfect, but at least we're making progress.

you mean we were supposed to keep the guns after we took them away?

who knew? apparently not some pakistani U.N. "peacekeepers," who decided that giving guns back to militias they had just disarmed was a good idea. in their defense, though, they weren't simply giving the weapons away; they were trading them for gold.