KickIdle.com Blog

A history of the U.S. presence at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

I just finished going through my credit report and making a list of the errors. It’s a good idea to do that every once in a while, and it only costs you ~$8 to get your report from each of the major credit report agencies (i.e. ~$24 total). You can do it over the web, thanks to the wonders of the Internet. Just visit TransUnion, EquiFax, and Experian. Oh, if you’ve been denied a request by a bank because of your credit history, you can get a free copy of your report, instead of paying the $8.

If you’re interested in language, and how words evolve, here’s an interesting article about the word “nigger”. It’s actually a review of a book, but has plenty of content as a stand alone piece.

Once again, Glenn Reynolds has about as good a lead in as you can get:

CHANGE COMES TO KANDAHAR now that the Taliban are gone. And I mean change.

Of course, we can’t have too much good news in one day…
Israel and Palestine are still going at it, with the latest round being Israel blowing up a bunch of Palestinian stuff, including their naval facilities and Palestinian homes.

OFFICE HUMOR THAT GOES TOO FAR: A Capitol Police officer has been charged with an anthrax hoax, apparently meant as a joke. Yes, I understand that cops (and other high-stress professions) deal with the stress using off-color humor. But really!? How could you possibly think this was a good idea?

Pakistan’s president, Gen. Musharraf, has made a televised speech denouncing all forms of extremism and terrorism. Hopefully this will be the cusp of the current conflict between India and Pakistan, and tensions can begin to ease. Among the comments, which should please India and the international community, were ones calling for a international effort to resolve the situation in Kashmir, as well as a strong condemnation of domestic institutions (schools and mosques) which support extremist Islamic beliefs. Musharraf also issued orders to have over 250 people arrested. All those arrested were held on the basis that they were expected to lead protests and riots against the new proclamation of Islamic moderation.
As an American, I generally disagree with prior restraint of speech. However, I view that as a small blemish on an otherwise rosy development in the India/Pakistan arena. This speech did not meet every demand made by India, most notably Pakistan says it will try all extremist locally instead of extradite them to India, and they maintain their stand on the disputed region of Kashmir. However, India’s chief complaints lately have been that Pakistan talks the talk but hasn’t walked the walk. In conjunction with the announcement, Musharraf banned not only the two Kashmir-based groups demanded by India, but also two domestic groups as well. Such a move, in the face of considerable domestic dissent, will hopefully be seen by India as a starting point for reconciliation.

I’ve probably spent the majority of the time since the inception of the Office of Homeland Security wondering just what it is Tom Ridge actually does. I finally found a site that shows some of the impressive programs undertaken by our OHS.