December 11, 1997
Global Warming Watch:
At the 1992 Earth-Summit in Rio de Janeiro it was agreed that the
industrialized nations would reduce their emission of CO2 (carbon-dioxide)
and other so-called greenhouse gases to
1990 levels by the year 2000. Since then the US production of these gases has ...
increased by 13%.
The Kyoto Protocol specifies that the USA must reduce their emissions by 7% below
their 1990 levels.
Only 1% of the US population put the environment at the top of their priorities.
The US Senate has already said that the Kyoto Protocol, in its present form judged
"unfair" to the American economy by a majority of the senators, will
not be ratified.
Here are the present "fair" annual values of production (per capita):
Hurry to the garage, close the door, start your SUV's engine and enjoy the goodness!
Racism Watch:
According to Agence France Presse a French extreme-right mayor was fined
$10,000 and given a 3 month suspended jail sentence over racist comments.
"Catherine Megret of the far - right National Front (NF) was found guilty
over the comments about racial equality made to the German daily Berliner
Zeitung... Megret told the paper that blacks are genetically different to
whites while immigrants -- who she said are often synonymous with crime --
should have their benefits cut and given to French people. "We are going
to withdraw all public funding for immigrants, and give the money to
French people," she said. "You'll see how quickly they disappear, those
who are only here for the money." (Source: Jack Kessler and his monthly newsletter)
(To know more about the "enlightened views" of the National Front on this subject read what her husband, Bruno Megret, wrote regarding the "Identity Imperative". If it does not make you feel sick at ease then nothing ever will.)
The Bell Curve must have crossed the Atlantic!
Gerontocracy Watch:
Strom Thurmond, the Republican senior senator of South Carolina, has announced
on the eve of his 95th birthday that he will relinquish the chairmanship of the Armed
Services Committee at the end of 1998. In making his decision Senator Thurmond
felt that it was time for a younger leadership. His likely successsor (if the
Republicans keep control of the Senate) will be Senator John Warner of Virginia,
age 70.
Youth, like truth, is a relative concept.
New York Times Headlines Watch:
"Americans Decide War May Not Be Quite So Scary" (11/30/97)
Don't ask what CNN can do for you...
El Niño Watch:
The two worst winters ever to afflict the california Northcoast
were 1955 and 1964, neither of them El Niño years. (Source: Anderson
Valley Advertiser, Boonville, California - 10/22/97)
Have you called your insurance broker yet?
Perestroika Watch:
Mikhail Gorbachev has made a commercial for Pizza Hut. "I thought that it is
a people's matter - food," he said. "This is why if my name works for the
benefit of consumers, to hell with it - I can risk it." His fee? Close to $1 million!
(Source: NYT, 12/3/97)
Did he find socialism in hell?
Generosity Watch:
In 1996 Americans donated $69.4 billion to their favorite churches.
(source: Giving USA 1997)
Nice business... God loves us all... Let's send bibles to Saddam.
Knowledge Watch:
In Akron, Ohio, during a town hall meeting on race, President Clinton said:
"we live in a country that is the longest-lasting democracy in human history,
founded on the elementary proposition that we are created equal by God. That's
what the Constitution says."
The longest-lasting democracy is Andorra, not the USA and the "we are created equal" is not in the Constitution but in the Declaration of Independence.
Details, details...
Fat-Free Watch:
10% of the French feline population is "clinically obese", according to an
American study financed by some untold trade association.
Were the cats imported from the US?
Conclusion
"It's all the same fucking shit, man..."
- Janis Joplin
"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity"
- Robert Heinlein