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09/12/2003 Archived Entry: ""

Altho' the following list -- The 25 Most Inappropriate Things An Objectivist Can Say During Sex -- is not funny to those uninitiated in the ways of Randroids, it is hilarious to those of us who have our roots in Rand.

What is so significant about this headline in the New York Times: "2 Soldiers Killed, 10 Wounded in Wave of Violence in Iraq"? Until recently there has been a virtual media blackout on discussion of American soldiers being wounded in Iraq...all you heard was the death toll, not the casualty count which, arguably, is of equal significance. While veterans' hospitals filled up with the wounded, there was silence from journalists and commentators. This stands in sharp contrast to the bedside interviews offered by the media during WWII and other conflicts. With an estimated 15 attacks on American troops per day in Iraq, the casualty rate is rising. As Warblogging.com reports, "Just about ten American soldiers per day are being wounded in Iraq, and about two per day are dying." Now...a change in the tide of reporting? While I was writing this blog entry, the New York Times updated the casualty figures for today in Iraq. Somehow, those soldiers who are paralyzed, maimed, in critical condition etc. have started to matter.

My last blog dwelt upon the machinations of the RIAA and its attempt to legally intimidate children. Now a peer-to-peer (P2P) group says it will cover costs for a 12-year-old New York girl who agreed to pay record labels $2,000 to settle a file-swapping lawsuit brought against her by the RIAA. The P2P groups states, "We do not condone copyright infringement, but someone has to draw the line to call attention to a system that permits multinational corporations with phenomenal financial and political resources to strong-arm 12-year-olds and their families in public housing the way this sorry episode dramatizes." Hear, hear! -- tho', frankly, I don't think the copyright-infringement claim can be substantiated. Meanwhile, there is a new development in the RIAA's "amnesty' program. As ZdNet reports, "A day after the Recording Industry Association of America filed a slew of lawsuits against alleged illegal song swappers, it became the target of legal action over its own 'amnesty' program....The suit, filed in the Marin Superior Court of California, charges that the RIAA's program is a deceptive and fraudulent business practice. It is 'designed to induce members of the general public...to incriminate themselves and provide the RIAA and others with actionable admissions of wrongdoing under penalty of perjury while (receiving)...no legally binding release of claims...in return,' according to the complaint."

Readers ask me about Sam, our 100 lb+ Black German Shepherd who went through emergency and high-risk surgery for a splenic torsion about six weeks ago. He is doing wonderfully well -- thank you for asking. Some 32 staples were removed from his two-foot scar a few weeks ago and even that scar is now covered with new-growth fur. It is as tho' the crisis never occurred. He is back to swamping in the forest with our other dog Fiona, killing groundhogs, conducting a mock feud from our side of the fence with the German Shepherds on the other, conducting a real feud with a racoon family that raids our birdfeeders at night, mooching treats at dinnertime, taking up too much space on the bed, barking in a "mighty brave" way at strangers at the door, hiding behind Brad whenever a stranger approaches in person...in short, he is our SAM again. One fall-out of the crisis: I get down on the floor and play with him at least once a day, with howl-competitions being his favorite game.

Best to all,
mac