Question Time

Once again, I see, We Aren't Asking Enough Questions.

These questions, appearing in no particular order, aren't the life/death kind of questions. Just inquiries.

Here goes:

Why does "Russian" always appear next to (tennis madonna) Maria Sharapova's name? Look at her. Listen to her speak. Check out her residence address. She not only doesn't live in Russia, she doesn't even live in Georgia! In fact, she lives in Florida, next door to the United States. Is she getting a promotional fee from Russia for name placement?

Which is more environmentally damaging: a golf course or a cruise ship? If you answer this one, I'd appreciate it if you'd list the criteria you use to define "environmental damage", as this is a tricky subject.

Why does the government think paying more money to people who work is bad (wage inflation), but paying more money to defense contractors for missiles that don't work (star wars) is good?

Why does the President think it's a bad idea for Russia to sell military rifles to a South American democracy (Venezuela) but it's a good idea for the United states to sell military planes to a South Asian dictatorship (Pakistan)? Especially considering that the dictatorship is arguably the world's greatest proliferator of nuclear weapons today?

After the Vatican explained extensively why Pope John Paul II wasn't kept alive by application of "heroic measures", have the parents of Terri Schiavo decided the Pope was a murder victim like their daughter?

Given the predictions of rising sea levels, how long do you think it will be before Florida consists entirely of "the Florida Keys"? How many billions in federal tax dollars will be spent building dikes around Florida to try to hold back the Atlantic Ocean? Should we contract out the job to King Chanute? How much do you think he would charge?

How many people believe Paul Wolfowitz has actually changed his thinking from believing that poor people should be invaded and occupied, exhorted to pump cheap oil for America; to believing that poor people should be assisted to improve their lives?

How inept is the United States government in its imperial ambitions if they can't even get their puppet government in Iraq to select a parliamentary leadership?

If the United States succeeded in destroying every vestige of cocaine production in the entire world: how many cocaine addicts would get clean, how many would find another drug to get stoned on? How much tax money should we spend to do this? Or to try and fail to do this?

In the United States it's an article of faith (well, among some anyway) that Ronald W. Reagan "destroyed communism". It seems there's competition though. In Europe (well, in Poland certainly) it's an article of faith that Pope John Paul II "destroyed communism". Whose mythical description in the history books of 2050 C.E. do you think will carry the description Destroyer of Communism?

Do you suppose the Chinese are feeling a little screwed? Just when they can afford a car, they can no longer afford the fuel! In the long run this will probably be a GOOD THING, as it will save them from the kind of traffic jams they enjoy in Southern California.