Free Republic

I noticed that too. Now all that is left is the "Medals Table" header, and the text that went below it is gone (you can compare by searching for the cached version of athens2004 on google) Interestingly, when the language of the page is switched to Greek, the table displays, when switched to "Francais", surprise, surprise, the table isn't there anymore. I would not be surprised if the Medals table header just disappeared from the front page altogether eventually the way things are going.

how about $200 bill? As costs go up, would be used more and more.

This article is from 2001. It'd be nice to see more current articles to support this viewpoint. Kind of reminds me of the article Walter Williams from www.townhall.com wrote this year about the myth of "Exporting Jobs" which used 1996 data as its most current data to support the similar conclusions.

Finally, anyone can twist the numbers any way they want to it seems, it'd just be nice if current data was used to support this argument otherwise it has no credibility with me whatsoever.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20030820.shtml

Walter Williams lost me as a fan when he posted this article in August, citing 1996 statistics to support his claim that there must be reasons companies preferred to go to high-wage companies rather than low-wage companies. What's enabling jobs to go to low-wage companies since then is the internet and improved technology and communication, but Walter doesn't address this for some reason and doesn't try to use current numbers even though I'm sure they're available, I wonder why not?

He lost any credibility with me when he cited 7 year old figures to support his case and I would be highly suspect of his numbers in any article at this point.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20030820.shtml

"Let's turn to the next part of the exporting jobs nonsense namely that corporations are driven solely by the prospect of low wages. Let's begin with a question: Is the bulk of U.S. corporation overseas investment, and hence employment of foreigners, in high-wage countries, or is it in low-wage countries?

The statistics for 1996 are: Out of total direct U.S. overseas investment of $796 billion, nearly $400 billion was made in Europe (England received 18 percent of it), next was Canada ($91 billion), then Asia ($140 billion), Middle East ($9 billion) and Africa ($7.6 billion). Foreign employment by U.S. corporations exhibited a similar pattern, with most workers hired in high-wage countries such as England, Germany and the Netherlands. Far fewer workers were hired in low-wage countries such as Thailand, Colombia and Philippines, the exception being Mexico.

The facts give a different story from the one we hear from the left-wing and right-wing anti-free trade movement. These demagogues would have us believe that U.S. corporations are rushing to exploit the cheap labor in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Surely with average wages in these countries as low as $10 per month, it would be a darn sight cheaper than locating in England, Germany and Canada, where average wages respectively are: $12, $17 and $16 an hour. "

Like a decades-old work of fiction about the Jim Crow South has any relevance here.

The DA and sheriff's department is ordering and wearing t-shirts depicting a hanging Kobe and other clever comments, and there's no relevancy to the Jim Crow south. Right.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,102252,00.html
On the front of the T-shirts ordered by the county workers is a hanging man. On the back is a choice of two derogatory statements about the Los Angeles Lakers (search) basketball star.
An e-mail message ordering 76 shirts, obtained by Fox News, was written from the same sheriff's office that is investigating the case.

The message was written Thursday, Oct. 16 — one week before the case was sent to trial.

It specified an order for 76 of both types of the T-shirts, in sizes ranging from medium to triple-extra-large. It added that: "The order was for our office and the DA's office ... please give me a little more time to get with everyone to collect the $7 fee." The T-shirts cost $12.95 in single units, but the two Eagle County offices ordered so many that they got the discount rate.

But because of questions asked by Fox News regarding the issue, the orders were never completed.

Legal observers say none of this is against the law, but is definitely unethical.

"Playing around with these kinds of T-shirts shows bias," sad Larry Pozner, former president of the Defense Attorneys' Association (search). "The DA's office does nobody any favors by making a joke out of it and by making it a cartoon-character issue.

It's patently false that "any one of us could be falsely accused of" rape. Avoid casual sex, avoid adultery, and don't put yourself in positions where you're alone with women you don't know, and your odds of running into Potiphar's wife or her modern counterparts, will diminish to nearly zero.

You might want to read To Kill a Mockingbird sometime, I'm sure you'd fine that guy guilty as sin though.

Tell you what: why don't you pray that in the far likelier eventuality that a woman you love -- a wife, mother, sister, girlfriend, daughter, etc. -- is raped, that the rape shield laws are still in effect, so that their attacker doesn't have the power of the courts at their disposal to continue thier assault for months on end.

Pray for that, so that you won't have to wake up to the realization that you've enabled their assailants.

If a woman I care about is mentally unstable, suicidal, sleeps around, and frequents men's hotel rooms, I would have a tough time believing that on one of those encounters where she set the whole thing up ( stayed late, arranged the tour, snuck back to the hotel room,etc) that she was raped rather than it be a sexual encounter. Sorry, it's just common sense.

If a woman I care about does not sleep around, is a pretty stable person, has stable relationships, I will be more likely to believe her when she says she was raped.

What if a male friend of yours was accused of rape and the accuser had a history like this one. Woudn't you think that's relevant? I do.

Or, if you don't think so, maybe you think Tucker Carlson and John Fund should be doing time for the rapes they were accused of. I'm sure they would love to have a juror with such a closed mind as yours that would ignore the mental stability of the supposed victim and prevent that evidence from seeing trial.

You blew it with the Potiphar example. Joseph did everything he could to avoid a compromising situation, exactly what you're advocating and somehow you still see fit to learn from his lesson as if he did something wrong.

Finally, if even a feminist, liberal, attorney like Susan Estrich, who is also a rape victim, exactly the person you would think would support a case like this can see that this whole case is a 'trainwreck', and questions how the rape shield laws are applied, you may want to think twice about this ridiculously stance you're taking on this that ignores any and every new evidence that comes out.

OK, maybe you're right; Kobe was into the good kind of adultery. I just love your logic stated in all of posts daming Kobe for adultery as if that's the main issue here. Why don't we just completely blur that line and equate adultery with rape and send everyone who's committed adultery to jail:

Frank Gifford was, by all accounts, setup by a stewardess who seduced, still that doesn't mean he couldn't have raped her, and by your logic he did commit adultery so send him to jail!!

Michael Jordan, had a mistress for years. best thing for him would be some prison time!

Rudy Guiliani had an affair outside of marriage, what's the deal with keeping him in public office, adultery is adultery is, well it isn't rape, but it's still really bad and he should be in prison!! Can't you people see this!!

and the list goes on and on

It is so impressively desperate that people can keep their mind's so closed despite every little bit of new information that tears away at the prosecution's case in this. Wake up!!

Everything seems to be escalating lately from the players behavior as well as that of the fans. I think a message should be sent, the Nebraska player should be arrested on misdemeanor assault charges filed and the fan should be arrested for disorderly conduct, I mean the from the video the fan was right in the football player's face, what does he expect to have happen?

Hopefully this will cause everyone to think twice about what takes place while rushing the field. You can still celebrate, but you should do so without getting in the face of the opposing team and provoking them.

I confess at having a bias against rock and rollers who flaunt their behavior and who seem not to care about much of anything other than their own desires.

I understand that an addict is an addict is an addict and I'm sure Rush will face his own demons during his recovery. He may even end up identifying with other addicts; I certainly can't predict.

So I guess we're at a stalemate my friend. I agree with half of what you've said. It's just that other half that I choke on. ;-)

Well, I find myself changing my standpoint somewhat.. As for rock and rollers who flaunt their behavior.. from what I've read over the past couple days, I'm actually having less sympathy for them. I mean, I am somewhat of a libertarian in that if they want to do that sort of thing and they're not hurting anyone except themselves.. well, it's tough for me to judge it.

But if you're going to be like Snoop Dogg and write homages to marijuana in your songs and wear hats/clothing with marjuana leaves on it and basically glorify the dope lifestyle, or be like Eminem and not only write songs about Vicodin but also sporting a Vicodin tattoo on his arm.. I start to think about the influence they're going to have on kids, my kids especially, and that's when my opinion drops and any sympathy I might have had goes away. As for Cobain.. he still gets some of my sympathy because of the nature of his problems, but by the same token he sure did glorify the drugged out lifestyle and that is something I do now have a problem with.

And one thing I'm happy about to say is that the more I read about this the more sympathy I have for Rush and his situation and the less inconsistency in his views. It's just truly unfortunate that he became addicted because of his back pain and I hope that his recovery goes well.

My problem is believing Kurt Cobain's excuse that he had some stomach problem in the first place when he and his pals reveled in the drug culture. If he was ill, he could have sought medical care.

Cobain's comments on his condition:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2001/0902/cover.html

"When I got back from our second European Tour with Sonic Youth, I decided to use heroine (sic) on a daily basis because of an ongoing stomach ailment that I had been suffering from for the past five years (and that) had literally taken me to the point of wanting to kill myself. For five years, every single day of my life, every time I swallowed a piece of food, I would experience an excruciating, burning, nauseous pain in the upper part of my stomach lining. The pain became even more severe on tour, due to lack of a proper and regimented eating schedule and diet. Since the beginning of this disorder, I've had 10 upper and lower gastrointestinal procedures, which found an enflamed irritation in the same place. I consulted 15 different doctors, and tried about 50 different types of ulcer medication. The only thing I found that worked were heavy opiates. There were many times that I found myself literally incapacitated, in bed for weeks, vomiting and starving. So I decided, if I feel like a junkie as it is, I may as well be one."

The guy has my sympathy.

As for the drugs.. from what I've read he started doing drugs, recreational, addictive drugs when he was in eighth grade. Do you have more or less sympathy for a kid who starts down that road to using addictive drugs at such a young age and doesn't really know what he's getting into or an adult who should know better than to use Oxycontin illegally?

Me, I don't know the answer to this because I think we start making excuses for behavior, which is why I think both of these situations need to be treated with sympathy and understanding on the whole, and criticisms of the aspects of these situations that truly should be criticized.

Another difference is that Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love were part of a drug scene. My understanding is that they met at a B*tthole Surfers concert and compared notes on how much they both loved pharamceuticals.

It is not part of my personal schtick to condemn recreational drug use, but I still do not see that you have shown a big hypocrisy on the part of a Rush Limbaugh condemning it. Cobain, like all celebrities inescapably, was a role model for kids and he certainly did recreational drugs and everyone knows it. If technically Cobain tried heroin to combat some pain, and that is what got him hooked and on a downward spiral, it doesn't change the image he portrayed to youth.

I agree with the role model part and that they did do recreational drugs, but it was the heroin that became the drug that addicted him and led to his suicide and I would at least pause a little before condemning him as severely as Rush did knowing that the heroin use did stem from his effort to treat a pretty intolerable health condition.

As for seeing a doctor about his stomach ailments, I wholeheartedly agree that he should have done this, by the same token I see no reason that Rush should have been taking Oxycontin illegally for his back pain, he should have been working with a doctor.

My final point, is that I see more similarities than I do differences in Rush and Kurt Cobain's situations and I don't think one deserves utter condemnation whereas the other gets understanding.

I don't know if you are presenting a fair case here, but I would say one difference is Cobain's words sounded like excuses, and Rush makes no excuses. True, Rush is making no excuses here, which I absolutely respect, but it just seems that Cobain's use of heroin seems a lot closer to being used as pain medication rather than to get high, but that distinction didn't seem to matter to Rush as the time he condemned Cobain.

Speaking of constant pain:

Here are Kurt Cobain's comments regarding a stomach condition and his drug use:

http://www.q.co.za/2001/2002/10/24-kurtcobain.html

"I am not a junkie ... Ive had a rather unconclusive and uncomfortable stomach condition for the past three years ... I decided to relieve my pain with small doses of heroine (sic) for a walloping 3 whole weeks."

" ... I decided to use heroine on a daily basis because of an ongoing stomach ailment that I had been suffering from for the past five years and had literally taken me to the point of wanting to kill myself."

"It was a stupid thing to do and Ill never do it again and I feel real sorry for anyone who thinks they can use heroine as a medicine because um, duh, it don't work."

"I remember someone saying if you try heroine once you'll become hooked. Of course I laughed and scoffed at the idea but I know believe this to be very true."

Rush's take on Kurt Cobain:

"Kurt Cobain was, ladies and gentlemen, a worthless shred of human debris"

I'm not seeing the distinction here between Kurt Cobain's illegal use of heroin to self-medicate and Rush's illegal uses of oxycontin "synthetic heroin" to self-medicate. Yet Rush felt strong enough to condemn Cobain for his drug use with the comment above. Wonder if he'd make the same sort of comment now.

I hope you don't truely believe that. Chris Matthews is a liberal tool that only gets used for the big plays. So the governorship of California isn't a big play?? If Matthews was a liberal tool he wouldn't be one Arnold's biggest supporters.

Excellent summary article on outsourcing

It's a start anyway. An article posted in the last week, indicated that reducing the tax subsidies would cause China's export's to rise in price by about 5% which coupled with a small yuan adjustment seems to be about the right amount to start with, not drastic, but enough to have an incremental effect on our trade, reducing our imports from China by a small but significant amount anyway.

As for the US export side of things, I agree, the yuan may not even matter if tariff's prevent us from even exporting the product in the first place.

I'm sure that would be an eye-opening experience, but that's probably too much to wish for right now unfortunately.

This, plus China's promises to reduce tax subsidies for their exporting companies should help start bringing about fairer free trade.

China pegs their yuan value to the dollar (8.3 to 1), guaranteeing their products will be quite a bit cheaper.
Japan doesn't, the yen floats.

I probably shouldn't have put the exact ratio on costs in since it may not be that, but there certainly is a good deal of disparity in costs. It would be nice of the difference was less than 8 to 1.

Here's the best article I could find on this:


http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/world/6556460.htm


Four U.S. senators last month sent Treasury Secretary John Snow a letter urging him to "investigate" China's currency strategy and take steps to protect American business. The two Democrats and two Republicans agreed that the yuan is undervalued by anywhere from 15 percent to 40 percent and gives Chinese exports "a nearly insurmountable advantage against United States producers," the letter said.