The View-Point

Mainland Chinese: The Eternal Diggers of Gold - Why a Sars spitting ban is catching in throats of Chinese
"...Spitting in public, which until a month ago was about as common as breathing, now carries a fine of between 50 and 200 yuan, a hefty sum for the average Chinese...."

In all fairness, I will skip the obvious jokes about a new Olympic sport for the 2008 Olympics to be held in Beijing, China...

Fashion despite Fatalism or Capitalism despite Chaos?

Some bad Shiite... - Kirkuk Elections End in Shouting Matches
"...The balloting Saturday in Kirkuk took into account the ethnic divide. Thirty-nine U.S.-approved electors from each of the city's main ethnic groups — Kurds, Arabs, ethnic Turks and Christians — voted for six council members from their ethnic group...."

Ah, the trials and tribulations of setting up a phoney-baloney government in a country where the majority of citizens most likely have never lived under or experienced any kind of real democracy. The amount of racial tension that exists in Iraq should be enough to put to shame any critics who feel American has serious race or ethic troubles...

As was the 7-year rebuilding of Japan after World War II, I would expect that things will not be very easy in the rebuilding of Iraq. Maybe we should teach the Iraqis a little something about life in a democracy by sending them "The Simpsons" TV show. After all, who could think of Homer as an infidel? D'oh!

Would you like a chocolate and a SARS mask on your pillow? - Avoid whole of Taiwan: WHO
"GENEVA - The World Health Organisation (WHO) has extended its travel advisory for Taipei to include the whole of Taiwan as the Sars crisis escalates in the island's south...."

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse... I shudder to think of the further negative impact this latest piece of news will have on Taiwan's economy. The island, which has been struggling to promote itself as a destination for trade shows, conventions, and summits in the East-Asian region will surely suffer even greater set-backs as the cancellations and postponements of events continue to flood in... At least now Taiwanese students can seek refuge in the summer ESL classes at the University of California at Berkeley... Stay tuned.

ALERT! - Military on Highest Domestic Terror Threat Alert
"The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has raised its warning of possible terror attack against military facilities in the United States to its highest level, defense officials said on Wednesday...."

And at a time like this, there are still people willing to take a position against the 2nd Amendment and who believe that citizens should not have the right to own the proper tools to protect themselves... Unbelieveable...

From the Left Coast: University Further Relaxes SARS Policy
"UC Berkeley officials revised the SARS policy because the university set aside resources to treat potential SARS cases, said UC Berkeley spokesperson Marie Felde."

Key word in this quote is potential. The initial blanket ban was surprising, especially coming from a university in California, where the idea that members of certain races should be given unearned advantages is the PC-way-to-be. The universal ban on students from certain SARS epedemic countries added up to giving unearned disadvantages to members of certain countries, and by extension certain races. What's going on out there California?

ORANGE ALERT! - Government Raises Terror Alert
"Administration Increases Terror Threat-Warning Level to Orange; E-mails Cited"

Smile for the Camera, Mr. bin Laden: U.S. to Fingerprint Most Foreign Visitors
"Foreign visitors arriving with visas at U.S. airports or seaports next year will have their travel documents scanned, their fingerprints and photos taken and their identification checked against terrorist watch lists."

Lets just hope this works...

SARS Wire - Dateline Taiwan: SARS outbreak exploding in Taiwan

Taiwan is the focus of the majority of SARS crisis stories today. These incidents will only further isolate the small island nation from the rest of the world. Its tough being a tiny SARS-infected fish in the global pond.

SARS Wire - Dateline Taiwan: Latest SARS Developments

It looks as if Taiwan, who has so far held SARS in check, may now be the next country to report an increase in the number of infections, while other countries in the Asian region are gaining control over the spread. This news comes despite information received from friends of [News&Views] that a certain large office building in the capitol city of Taipei has been requiring anyone entering the building to have their temperature checked... Stay tuned...

'Racism' in Sports...



This country is in dire need of Affirmative Action programs to give hope to the repressed and under-represented white minority in the National Basketball Association. Why should athletic skill be the primary basis for determining who makes the cut? White kids are growing up with no hope that they could succeed in the NBA, because everytime they turn on a game on TV, they see that people of their color are not adequately represented in the players that play in the NBA. Something must be done to correct the terrible harm done, and create adequate and proportional representation of all peoples!

-- IABBA

Anthrax: Finally, the FBI Uncovers a Tantalizing Clue

And all this time, it could have been one of our own...

DRUDGE REPORT 2003®: "Osama Bin Laden singled out Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as targets for 'martyrdom operations' in a chilling audio tape issued only three months before the latest string of bombings..."

Uh oh... Here we go again... Looks like Pakistanis better be on the look-out. The Bin Laden menace is apparently still on the loose. Sill plenty of young Arab men out there with nothing productive to do with their lives, except for seeking their 40 virgins... Hey pal, ever hear of Vegas?