actuarial arcana

RANDOM STUFF
* "Just how disenchanted are South Americans with democracy? A year ago, more than 50% of 19,000 polled by the United Nations said they would prefer a new caudillo (strong man) over democracy if he'd make their living conditions better." LINK
Just how disenchanted are Americans with democracy? 6 months ago, more than 50% of 100 million polled by Diebold, apparently said they would prefer a new caudillo (strong man) over democracy who would make their living conditions worse.

* "Italian prosecutors asked a judge Tuesday to charge Premier Silvio Berlusconi and 12 others with tax fraud and embezzlement stemming from a deal by his broadcast company to purchase television rights for U.S. movies, a prosecutor said. The case is the latest in a long series of investigations against Berlusconi, who says he is a victim of a campaign by "communist" magistrates." LINK
judges are apparently bad everywhere...

* "Q But how strongly is the President supporting (DeLay) at this time in which he's embattled in this ethics dispute?
MR. McCLELLAN: As strongly as he ever has, which is strongly." LINK

* dickdurbin: 'if bush is going out to campaign to privatize socsec, lets help him pack!'
* pelosi: 'we wont let the president turn the NewDeal into a Raw Deal'

* "Cheney and Abdullah met at a hotel where Abdullah was spending part of his five-day stay in the United States. The White House refused to provide details about the meeting." LINK
why does this sound familiar???

* "One of Charlotte's best-known churches has withdrawn support for a food pantry that serves the needy because the pantry works with Roman Catholics... the church could no longer support the agency after it allowed three Muslim students from UNC Charlotte to help serve a meal" LINK

* "In a 2001 budget meeting still fresh in congressional memories, Bush antagonized a bipartisan group of senior members who were seeking additional funding for domestic security. Bush bluntly threatened a veto and, rather than respond to lawmakers' arguments, abruptly left the meeting." LINK
this man is keeping the world safe from terrorists.

* blinky " has become a master of actuarial arcana, such as the concept of a "bend point" — a feature of the complex formula for calculating benefits." LINK
u wanna buy a bridge?