conspiracy theory

Bush knew all along that bin Laden was in Iraq. They didn't let on, so they could push the war in Afghanistan. This was so they could place their own man (the guy who worked for Conoco) in power. Now that that is all taken care of, he needs an excuse to go into Iraq and get bin Laden.

the media and the economy

I'm getting tired of all the headlines saying, "war fears hurt economy." That's BS. It's not that investors are afraid that war will bring chaos, it's that the economy really is in the tank. They always say that war helps the economy. I don't think that's true anymore. This isn't WWII, where everybody was involved in the war effort. Warmaking is so high tech nowdays, that there are only a few defense contractors that benefit. The war is so isolated, in economic terms, that it will have little effect in that respect.

Some people believe that a war will bring terrorism. I think this is a fear which has a basis in reality, and it should eventually have some effect on the economy. But I also think that investors aren't seeing that eventuality.

hallowed ground

I just noticed that somebody besides me lists "hallowed ground" as an interest. But she's into witchcraft, so I suspect it's not a Violent Femmes reference.

unassailable

Toblerone: the Maginot Line of chocolate

Too bad they're owned by Kraft. Is Kraft still owned by RJ Reynolds?After RJ Reynolds acquired Nabisco, they called themselves RJR/Nabisco. Did they change or sell again after that? I just checked the Kraft website and all I found was that "Kraft Foods Inc. completed its IPO on June 13, 2001. The net proceeds from the IPO were used to retire a portion of the debt incurred in connection with the acquisition of Nabisco Holdings Corp." The Kraft and Nabisco businesses were integrated.

Pakistan

Okay, so we've gotta pretend Pakistan is our ally (give them lots of money), to keep them from becoming our enemy, even though they're already our enemy?

interview with Sy Hersh

There's a very good chance that they're harboring bin Laden and a whole lot of al Qaida? And they're the ones who gave nuclear technology to North Korea?