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CLICK HERE: THIRD WORLD COUNTY cos 404 is NOT an active blog; it's a test blog. OK?

Since you're not paying attention...

Traffic logs indicate a lotta folks are still dropping in here for some reason or another. You're not paying attention, folks. All the bloggage is going on over at http://thirdworldcounty.us. Anyway, here's a taste of twc fare—one of the shortest posts available—from the twc table: Feel free to talk among yourselves. The topic is: Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy. ...in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representative who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions. Also stated as, Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy is that in any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control, so that those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely. *heh* X-posted from third world county.us

The FairTax Book—Now in Paperback!

Of the critical issues facing America today-Islamic terrorism (heck, Islam. Leave it at that); Alien Invasion; Wavering manufacturing capabilities and other economic amphiboli; The staggering failure of public education and the eventual collapse of Social Security along with whatever straw breaks the camel's back of our national debt, one issue can be addressed clearly, unequivocally and effectively now: The crippling income tax system. In fact, the Fair tax bill now in Congress can actually have a positive effect on most of the critical issues listed above. Not so much on Islamic Jihad, though the effects of a strengthened economy the Fair Tax would promote would even have some effect there. The Alien Invasion? Wouldn't it be nice if all the illegal aliens paid federal taxes? No, really. And got not one dime back in "refunds"? The Fair tax would make that a certainty. A rock solid sure thing. (Nanny-nanny-boo-boo to President Bush's, fake "pay a meaningful penalty".) Social Security and Medicare? Fully funded with the Fair Tax. And <em>everyone </em>gets a refund on taxed necessities up to the poverty level. <em>Everyone</em>. Completely fair. Completely non-regressive. Absolutely progressive. Fairly, since it only taxes purchases at retail. But you NEED to know all about what the Fair Tax will do so you can intelligently talk to your congresscritters and your friends, relatives and business associates/coworkers about it. Now, it's less expensive to be fully informed. The Fair tax Book is in paperback, and it's under $10. Do yourself, your children and your grandchildren a favor and buy a copy (or two) and read it-no! <em>study</em> it, and learn what you need to know to be fully informed. It is that important, folks. Make April 15 just another day! The Fair Tax Book : Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS Also seen at the other third world county

The third world county "So, maybe they're commandments and maybe not" of blogging

Ya wanna make something of it? :-) Sam, at The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns has offered Sam's 10 Commandments Of Blogging, Angel, of Woman Honor Thyself has a thoughtful piece up about blogging, Can Anyone Write a Blog?, and lady Diane has posts and tons of comments about her woes blogging (hosting, servers, wonky reloads, etc.). so I figure it's that time of year again, you know, when posts about blogging are in the air, like pollen. So here goes, my own ten not-quite-commandments, more like "get-a-clues" about blogging. Something for everyone in here—the good, the bad and the execrably ugly—somewhere, although the ones for truly bad bloggers will never be seen, I trust, cos by now I think I've run most of them off screaming, to weep and wail and gnash their teeth in outer darkness. Or the upper reaches of TTLB's inbred blog-game. Close. 10. Thou shalt not offend the dumbass chattering boobies by allowing offensive comments on thy blog¹. Practice safe commenting on your blog. These days, you never know when someone will accuse you of warping a rare vinyl of Pink Floyd by allowing a dangerous, seditious or truly weird comment on your blog. I suggest posting this disclaimer at the header of your comments section: Look, you guys: I am NOT, repeat NOT responsible for what some asshat says in comments. If, repeat IF I have the time, energy and brainpower after a day that has turned my brain to mush, I MIGHT be able to read through and comprehend alla the comments posted. IF, repeat IF I find something in comments that IN MY OPINION is plainly slanderous, seditious or otherwise dangerous, exceptionally stupid or destructive or harmful, I'll probably delete it. I may make fun of it or slash it to ribbons with my own (opinion) commentary. If YOU find something in comments that YOU opine is plainly slanderous, seditious or otherwise dangerous, exceptionally stupid or destructive or harmful, PLEASE let me know via email and I'll TRY to have the time, energy and mental wherewithal to deal with it. But I can make no promises. I'm only human and will do my best. There are plainly too many loons out there for me to police everything, so CUT ME SOME SLACK. It's only a blog, for heaven's sake! read more

Paying attention yet? :-)

Heigh Ho

Walt Disney's Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs: Classic Soundtrack Series Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Test Slug

[UPDATE: See The Real Ugly American's take on Open Trackbacks . Good post. Meat on those bones, bubba.] My Wonder Woman's a children's librarian, so for our anniversary, we caught "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." I had to wait until the end of the flick for something besides the typical "Harry Heroics" and boffo special effects. That was when Dumbledore spoke to Harry of a time approaching when everyone they knew would be called upon to choose between doing what's right... or what's easy. And then, following the tracks of one linkfest to another to another late last night,-just kinda casually cruisin' n perusin'-until I lost track of the links in the chain, and I ended up at Alexandra von Maltzan's All Things Beautiful . There, I found a post to end my evening with: "Loyalty To The Truth on Thanksgiving". She refers to Hugh Hewitt's article on how to have a political argument with family (just read it) and then builds a powerful "tribute" to genuine bloggers she knows. From her leadoff: "The loyalty and integrity we should have as bloggers is to the Truth and liberation of that Truth, and not to the Truth we assign to the political denominations we belong to. And above all to the good old fashioned family values of integrity and loyalty to that Truth which we celebrate at Thanksgiving. Respect for each other as bloggers no matter what we believe in is paramount, and no amount of self gratifying echo chamber rhetoric should come in the way of a good upbringing, and manners, above all being grateful today that we have a voice." And you know, the truth she's talking about applies whether it's bloggers who are devoted to so-called "important" issues or to personal journaling-or even to food and recipes ("Do YOU credit the sources of your recipes every time, David? Well, do you?") It's a post I believe well worth reading in its entirety. In fact, I archived the text just in case her permalink should ever prove less than permanent, so I can return to that one statement from time to time. The quote the other day from Jo's Cafe? It's worth repeating in this context: "What is most important is who you are and does your blog reflect you... " There are the hard choices... and the easy ones. When we're blogging, the hard choices sometimes demand introspection... just to know they really are there. "Where is my bias? What do I believe and why?" If we ever allow our biases or our egos to persuade us to shade the truth, to twist it or even to outright lie, then we become the little people who populate the boob tube opinion programs calling themselves "news". Just a thought. Read the two posts linked above for better presentations. In a strangely related post dealing metaphorically with blog ethics, The Crazy Rants of Samatha Burns reports, Source Code Stolen From NZ Bear. heh Indeed. Consider this my Friday "Open all weekend" Open Post with The Open Trackback Alliance Link to this URL: http://thirdworldcounty.blogspot.com/2005/11/riffing-off-dumbledore.html Trackback to this URI: http://www.haloscan.com/tb/mnmus/113293642547681487/ See Ferdy's Open Trackbacks Pingposters List here. I'll try to do a frontpage post rounding up interesting pings posted here, later. PingLinked at: NIF, Is It Just Me?, The Blue State Conservatives(apparently not: MT seems to be having trouble accepting trackback pings--but go to BSC and read up, anyway, 'K?), Conservative Cat, Don Surber After Hours, Right Wing Nation, Stray Dog, Blogin Outloud, TMH's Bacon Bits