-Caveat Lector- from; http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Today's Lesson from "Patriotism" by Yukio Mishima The honeymoon trip was dispensed with on the grounds that these were times of national emergency. The two of them had spent the first night of their marriage at this house. Before going to bed, Shinji, sitting erect on the floor with his sword laid before him, had bestowed on his wife a soldierly lecture. A woman who had become the wife of a soldier should know and resolutely accept that her husband's death might come at any moment. It could be tomorrow. It could be the day after. But, no matter when it came--he asked--was she steadfast in her resolve to accept it? Reiko rose to her feet, pulled open a drawer of the cabinet, and took out what was the most prized of her new possessions, the dagger her mother had given her. Returning to her place, she laid the dagger without a word on the mat before her, just as her husband had laid his sword. A silent understanding was achieved at once, and the lieutenant never again sought to test his wife's resolve. ==== Voodoo Economics Clinton Wants to Use Social Security Surplus to Reduce Debt Next, he will use the budget "surplus" to end poverty. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Raising the stakes in the battle over the federal budget, President Clinton said Saturday he will propose legislation to use Social Security surpluses to pay down the national debt. The idea, as described by Clinton in his weekly radio address, is to pay down more than $3.1 trillion in public debt over the next 15 years as part of a plan that would make the United States debt-free for the first time since 1835. The billions saved in interest payments to service the debt would then be diverted to the Social Security Trust Fund to ensure its solvency to 2050. "This is the first big step toward truly saving Social Security," Clinton said. It is a proposal he floated earlier this year, but it has failed to find support in the Republican-led Congress. By sending the legislation to Capitol Hill on Monday, he is trying to revive the proposal in the context of budget negotiations with Republicans. The two sides are accusing each other of making budget proposals that would tap into Social Security surpluses, a practice that has been done for years but which is unpopular now during a time of budget surpluses. Republicans have proposed Social Security "lockboxes" of their own to protect the entitlement program from being raided to pay for current programs. "We believe the government should 'stay the course' and live within its means," said Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico in the Republican radio address. "By doing so, we can preserve the Social Security surplus, pay down our national debt, (and) keep the budget balanced, while investing in priorities such as education and health care," he said. Domenici, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, argued that the existence of a relatively small budget surplus "doesn't mean we should go on a spending spree." He said Clinton has proposed new spending in a wide variety of areas but that "not everything can grow." "Over the next few days the president will have to choose between cooperation or confrontation," he said. "We have pledged to cooperate." On Social Security, Democrats insist Republican plans do not extend the solvency of Social Security by a single day. At this point Social Security is projected to go bankrupt in 2034, unless reforms are made, because of the costs of benefits for baby boomers when they retire. White House economic advisor Gene Sperling said if the Social Security surpluses were entirely spent, interest payments on debt held by the public would be $163 billion in 2011. But devoting a decade of Social Security surpluses to debt reduction would slash the debt by $2.1 trillion, cutting interest payments to $56 billion. That would save $107 billion that would be transferred into the Social Security Trust Fund in 2011, and growing amounts through 2016. Transfers would stay at the 2016 level through 2044. "What it is, it is generating more revenues for the future by saving now, having lower interest rates, high savings," Sperling said. Clinton, with little more than a year left in his presidency, said his plan represents a historic opportunity to protect Social Security for future generations. "It will take the trust fund out beyond the life span of the baby boom generation -- no gimmicks, no budgetary sleight of hand, just the right choices that really add up to protecting the Social Security surplus," he said. Reuters, October 23, 1999 Russian Follies Russia Attacks Grozny Fruits and Vegetables The stupid Chechens should have stayed out of the war zone. RUSSIA'S efforts to drum up world support for its war in Chechnya were in ruins last night as its prime minister was forced to explain to European Union leaders how dozens of civilians had been killed in a Grozny market-place. Speaking in Helsinki, Vladimir Putin blamed the massacre on Chechen "gangs" and said the market was a weapons bazaar. A spokesman at Russia's military headquarters in the North Caucasus claimed that the attack on the Chechen capital was a "special operation" and its victims were confined to those who sold arms and ammunition to "bandits". According to reports from Grozny, about 60 people were killed and some 200 injured in the attack on Thursday evening. Fragments of what looked like missiles were found among blood-soaked kiosks. The West's criticism of the Russian campaign reached new heights when Berlin called on Moscow to halt its military intervention against the rebel republic. "This massive, violent attack and its uncontrollable consequences must be stopped immediately," Joschka Fischer, Germany's Foreign Minister, told Igor Ivanov, his Russian counterpart, in a letter. At home, the Russian media, until now strongly supportive of the military, appeared to be having their first serious doubts about the operation and, in a departure from past practice, broadcast extended footage of the aftermath of the attack. What happened in Grozny is still a mystery. Chechen sources accused the Russians of hitting the market with surface-to-surface missiles, claims denied by Moscow. Finding his summit with the EU overshadowed by the massacre, Mr Putin admitted that Russia was conducting special operations inside Chechnya but said they had nothing to do with the incident. * Mr Putin's public approval ratings are soaring as his troops advance into Chechnya, capitalising on Russians' fear and anxiety after recent apartment block bombings, according to an opinion poll yesterday. Yuri Levada, head of the VTsIOM opinion research centre, said that attacks across Russia that killed nearly 300 people had swung public opinion behind Mr Putin's stand against Chechen rebels, whom the Kremlin blames for the attacks. The London Telegraph, October 24, 1999 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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