Thomason Tracts

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Why will Hartsfield runway cross I-285? It has to
Extra-strong span will bridge 10 lanes of traffic

How bad is Atlanta traffic? This bad. Cars aren’t enough of a problem, now you’re driving along (at 20 MPH) on the expressway and a 747 comes bearing down on you.

I go to Atlanta once or twice a year, but I don’t drive in the city anymore. I park as far away as I can and take the train in. I can’t imagine what the traffic will be like on 285 when they start building this thing.

Lawsuit Threatens, but Cheney Refuses to Name Energy Advisors

I don’t know the law on this. But I can understand why Cheney wouldn’t want anyone to know about his meetings. If the Executive Branch is working like Congress has in recent years and letting lobbyists set policy, it wouldn’t look very good, would it?

Enron’s not a political scandal, but this investigation could stir up a lot of them. Now, where have we seen that before?

Andersen Says Enron Failed on Business Merits

Yes, this is true. What he forgets to mention is that the only reason it succeeded for a time was that Andersen didn’t tell investors what was really going on. If Andersen was doing its job, Enron would never have come within a fraction of the market value it attained.

Alabama Governor’s plans for Constitutional Convention
Gov. Don Siegelman has outlined his plans for a citizens constitutional convention in which current legislators and lobbyists would have little or no say in the process.

GASP! The lobbyists and legislators were predictably upset.

The current Alabama state constitution is a nightmare. It has to be amended to allow routine changes in the law, for one thing. It’s a Jim Crow-era document, and large portions of it have been declared unconstitutional. The whole thing needs badly to be scrapped.

I’d love to see this happen. I’m sure anything too awful (ARTICLE XLII: The Earth is flat) will get struck down federally anyway.

Before Debacle, Enron Insiders Cashed in $1.1 Billion in Shares

Now these guys, they should go to jail. I’m afraid that the attempt to turn Enron into a political scandal — which it really isn’t — will make the financial scandal secondary. This is a massive fraud perpetrated on the entire United States, and the perpetrators can’t be allowed to get away with it.

Of course, Michael Milken is still fabulously wealthy, isn’t he? These guys never get really punished.

Political Map of Libya, Egypt, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Somalia - Atlapedia Online

I’ve been thinking (don’t say it) and I wonder if we’re not choosing our next foes with an eye towards impressing the Saudis and Egyptians. You hear “Somalia” and you think “Africa”, and that’s where it is all right, but look how close it is to Saudi Arabia. Iraq, of course, shares a border with the Saudis, and Sudan — a lesser possibility — shares one with Egypt and is across the Red Sea from Arabia. We’ve put pressure on Yemen, another Saudi neighbor. Meanwhile, we seem to be more or less ignoring the Philippines and Indonesia, despite known al-Qaeda groups operating in those countries.

There’s nothing wrong with this. War isn’t fought for its own sake, but for political means. The whole point of this exercise, lest we forget, is to wipe out terrorism, especially terrorism against us. All the evidence suggests — despite the public spin of the Administration — that the biggest source of terrorism in the world right now is Saudi Arabia. Osama, of course, is a Saudi, al-Qaeda is largely funded by him and other Saudis. His primary associates seem to be mostly Saudis or Egyptians. The WTC attackers were mostly Saudis. While the Saudi government itself isn’t sponsoring terror directly, they aren’t doing anything about it. So we put on a show.

Euro coins All coins in Luxembourg will bear the profile of His Royal Highness the Grand Duke Henri. They will bear the year of issue and the word “Luxembourg” written in Luxembourgish (”Letzebuerg”).

Luxembourgish?

I looked over all the coins, and the low countries — as part of their plan for global domination, no doubt — all have portraits of their current monarchs on the verso of all coins. None of the other nations do, except Spain has theirs on the big coins. Austria has Mozart, Italy has Dante and Marcus Aurelius, Pinky and the Brain have some inbred royals.

Insanity of do-it-yourself censorship / Three companies in Utah create technology to manipulate DVDs

There must be something wrong with me, because I don’t see what’s so wrong about this. These companies aren’t censoring everyone’s movies; they’re just providing a service to some consumers. It’s not anything different from what broadcast and basic-cable networks do when they show movies, except that with this you have the option. With the networks, you get the bowdlerized version whether you like it or not.

Of course, the Law of Unintended Consequences will come into play here. If this technology becomes widespread, TV will become even more violent and profane. Not that I’m against violence or profanity. But that’s what happens every time a ratings system is instituted or an existing system is made more stringent. But if you can censor out foul language, nudity, or violence with the touch of a button, you can’t very convincingly argue against foul language, nudity, or violence. That won’t stop people from trying, but it hurts their position.