InternationalThe Mouse that Roared
It is a Peter Seller’s movie from the 50’s. You might want to pick it up at your video rental spot. It is all about the the Duchy of Grand Fenwick waging war on the U.S. and winning. Tomorrow that bit of silliness gets closer to real fact.
The idea of the comedy is pretty timely. You get crushed by U.S. military might and as the loser get huge amounts of American aid. It has to be one of the most popular movies in Iraq. But, there’s one other spot that still has it showing in their main-run theaters. That would be Antigua & Barbuda who love the punch line where Fenwick won the war.
In the flick, Peter Sellers plays the Prime Minister, the Grand Duchess, and the Army head. Mark Mendel isn’t quite as versatile. He only plays the real attorney for Antigua-Barbuda that wants a 3.4 billion dollar settlement. In the world of rodents, that is one hell of a piece of cheese. And, he’s upping the ante to around 7-bil after we did the a King’s X move with the GAT treaty by saying we never meant to include things we included in our world trade plans. That’s chump change against the E.U.’s claim of 15-billion over our withdrawl from our treaty obligations. I expect the E.U. will at least send A-B a thank you card.
Tomorrow (8/31) Mark Mendel has another day to kick us in the nether parts at the WTO. This is another step in the process started years ago and has crept through the WTO’s lengthy processes to March of this year when A-B won a final decision from that organization. But, like the Michael Vick trial, resolution awaits the sentencing.
We’ve done all the classic explanations of the alternatives. The ones that emasculate the U.S. are the suspension of copyright protections. This was only granted once before and that time the country didn’t have to use it to get their issues resolved. I imagine that, should that option be granted A-B, we’d come to our senses again. That is even more likely with the time frame pushing things beyond the Bush Whitehouse.
We are a very moral nation. It is a fact that regularly bites us in the ass. It was fun to use dunking stools in the past or to sew an A on the chick down the street’s tank top. Most of us can live with a born again and even the occasional Mormon showing up on our doorstep. I tell them I am happy with my affiliation and we smile happily at each other and they waddle off to the next house. But that puritanic rite doesn’t cost me or the other 302,735,803 (U.S. Population Clock) citizens $72.67 – which is our share of the WTO judgements pending.
This UIGEA fiasco started because the Washington desk jockeys cum self-made bishops decided I couldn’t afford to gamble on a monetary or soul basis. Well, not sure on my soul but I do know that the cost of my gambling is going up without even a hand history to show for it.
Let’s set this silly diatribe aside for a second. What is really happening is that we’re getting hit over the head with another law to protect us from ourselves that is costing way more than any of the benefits that might accrue. This isn’t because of the $22-billion. It is because it is another stupid law. Every stupid law erodes our faith in the nation. And every time that happens some dude uses it as justification to cheat a bit more on his taxes or get as silly and start believing that the U.S. has no right to collect taxes to begin with.
ADDENDUM:
If you use MS Messenger, make sure it is version 8.1. This is especially true if you ever get involved with Web cams. It is another of those buffer overflow ways of taking over your computer. If you don’t view videos that way, switch to Pigin. It is opensource and free of cost. It handles all the IM protocols in a single applet. I use it. Works well. You can get it from SourceForge.
*******
This has to be the funniest poker satire ever to hit YouTube. And while you are over on YouTube, search on “Premier League Poker” there are some of the sickest hands and comment you’ll run across in poker. Devilfish loses it…totally…it is the old in best and out quick scenario.
German
French
Spanish
Italian
Hungarian
Hroatian
Dutch
Brazilian
Romanian