ELSEWHERE

Well, it now seems to be definite. Several readers have traced the expression "reptiles of the press" to the same source for me. The consensus is that the expression was taken from the "Dear Bill" letters of the 1980s in Britain's satirical "Private Eye" magazine. There are accounts of the letters concerned here and here.

Lawsuit abuse from Rhode Island to the Hawaiian Islands: "With the cost of torts rising from just over 1% of GDP in 1973 to double that today, one might expect to see a similar increase in causes for such suits, such as doctors making more mistakes or businesses making more dangerous. But this is not the case. Instead, trial lawyers pushing questionable suits and winning exorbitant awards from juries are the driving force behind this cost increase. In one famous example of class action gone awry, a settlement against the Bank of Boston awarded $8.64 to each class member, but then charged each of those members $90 in trial lawyer fees. Similarly, in a case against Blockbuster, the attorneys took home over $9 million in fees. The harmed plaintiffs each got a $1-off coupon for future video rentals. And the list goes on."

That wonderful U.N. again: "Home-made pornographic videos shot by a United Nations logistics expert in the Democratic Republic of Congo have sparked a sex scandal that threatens to become the UN's Abu Ghraib. The expert was a Frenchman who worked at Goma airport as part of the UN's $700 million-a-year effort to rebuild the war-shattered country. When police raided his home they discovered that he had turned his bedroom into a studio for videotaping and photographing sex sessions with young girls.

When Massachusetts politician Elbridge Gerry had the boundaries of his electoral district redrawn, the resulting map of it was a strange shape that looked like a salamander. Hence the name "Gerrymander" now commonly used for such arrangements. A California congresswoman, however, makes Elbridge Gerry look like an amateur. Have a look at this map of her district. Electoral redistricting is never a pretty sight but this one shows no respect for democracy at all.

Your friends, the bureaucrats: "A battle is brewing between Costco and Washington state's government over the price of wine and beer, and the fight is expected to be as long as the legs of a fine wine. The retail giant, based in the Evergreen State, is suing, saying that government involvement in regulation of beer and wine means higher prices, mandatory mark-ups and middlemen. That, says company officials, prevents the retailer from selling beer and wine in bulk at lower prices, which is what the company prides itself on. 'Obviously we want to be able to bring products to market at a lower price, irrespective of what that product is,' said Jim Sinegal, president and CEO of Costco."

Astute blogger makes the good point that American culture is adopted worldwide because it is a people's culture -- not something prescribed by an elite. So ordinary people everywhere like it.

Who said this? "It is high treason to pay taxes. Refusal to pay taxes is the primary duty of the citizen!". It was none other than Karl Marx!.

For more postings, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH and SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. Mirror sites here, here, here, here and here

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That power only, not principles, is what matters to Leftists is perfectly shown by the Kerry campaign. They put up a man whose policies seemed to be 99% the same as George Bush's even though the Left have previously disagreed violently with those policies. "Whatever it takes" is their rule.

Leftists are phonies. For most of them all that they want is to sound good. They don't care about doing good. That's why they do so much harm. They don't really care what the results of their policies are as long as they are seen as having good intentions.

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