There's been a 9.0 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean near Sumatra. It triggered a series of tsunamis which have killed an estimated 70,000+ people. From Thailand, to Sri Lanka, to India, and Indonesia, widespread devastation.

Naturally, President Bush pledged millions of stolen loot to help with the recovery. 10 or 24 or whatever.

Immediately, the US is bashed for being "stingy". Basically, not giving enough.

Depending on who said it, my first inclination would be to declare "Fine, how about ZERO dollars?"

This is part of the whole "White Man's Burden", which I equate to guilt. Just as Ayn Rand said, the US is made to feel guilty because of its success.

Of course the flip side, right now, is the imperialist wars the US has started of late. The contradiction is dazzling.

Otherwise, Xmas was largely fun. Had a giant turkey dinner with Margaret feverishly working the whole day. I scored some warm clothes.

Jean browbeat me continuously to read "Fear Factor" by Michael Crichton. His message regarding environmentalism is very close to my own - albeit with more supporting footnotes and such.

Without giving too much away, Crichton completely dismantles the "science" and motivation of the environmental movement. He does so within a fictional context, but has littered the book with dozens of footnotes to support his accusations.

Basically, the book is a thinly disguised lecture on the entire environmentalist wacko movement, including the pseudo-scientific basis for it. It preaches to the reader even more than Rand does! And that's saying something!

Secondly, the idea that environmentalists are already killing people around the world with the ban on DDT, and other elitist rules, it becomes only a little extension to believe those same miscreants would be willing to actually murder their opponents on a more personal basis.

I'd recommend it to people to read mostly because its message is sorely needed to be disseminated to the masses as quickly as possible. Otherwise, it's mostly a mediocre formulaic story with a lot of loose ends.