The Iraqi government sent people to Switzerland to try to rescue these Olympics for the sake of a handful of athletes and the hopes of a nation.  The story is here, and it's getting goofier by the minute.  The IOC is demanding the reinstatement of the old corrupt Iraqi olympic committee-- even though FOUR of its members were kidnapped years ago and their whereabouts are currently unknown!

The IOC still stinks in this.  Their chief reason for offense appears to be that they were not consulted by Iraq when it rejected its old corruptocrats on the national committee.  A secondary reason could be, and probably is, that they are trying to make Iraq a sad failure story so that it can reflect badly on Bush.

Iraq says it's not retreating on its selection of new committee members.  They ask the IOC, 'if you never rejected any of Saddam's personally appointed committee members, how can you claim that we, a democratic government, were choosing friends or installing favorites?' 

Good question.  Reminds of of all the corruption Mitt Romney had to work past for the winter games in Utah a few years back.  I think it's also similar to Wolfowitz' forced retirement from the World Bank.  Old time kleptocrats protecting their positions and their cash flows.  This time, though, they've encountered plenty of vocal and public opposition to their scam, and it looks like they'll reverse and claim they didn't.

The news is sad today, from the archives of "Extreme Makeover Home Edition", the popular ABC TV show in which the happy crew shows up at the doorstep of American misery and donates, in the form of hard work and expensive materials, a 'new start', a remodeling and problem-solving session which is filmed for television. 

The biggest job they'd ever done was three years ago, when they demolished an entire home and built a new one from the ground up.  The happy family was the beneficiary of $450,000 worth of new home and a $250,000 fund to help them maintain it and 'get a new start'.

Now read how well they did with their new start.  Read especially the comments of the volunteers and staff of the show, the bitter disappointment at having expended great effort and ceremony to give this gift, only to have it wind up in the proverbial dumpster.

I have long understood these facts of human nature--

People tend to be in the place their effort level and attitude puts them.  People who are happy, energetic, self-believing and humble will prosper, generally speaking.  People who insist on being unhappy, blaming others for misfortune, feeling as if the world isn't treating them right, those people generally do not prosper.

And people tend to place a lower value on things given to them than on things earned through work and effort. 

This family tried to leverage their gift into fast wealth, rather than accepting it humbly and striving to be worthy of it.  The mayor of the town is one of the people who worked hard as a volunteer in the construction, one of the 'team members'.  His opinion reliably reflects those of others.  They are verging on angry; the people threw this away, wasted it, made a mockery of a serious and intense effort by many many people.

One of the reasons I am a conservative is that I understand this aspect of human nature.  I do not feel as if it's my DUTY to financially support people who make bad decisions and do not respect or appreciate the help they get.  Their lives are THEIR problem, not mine.  They should try harder, learn better from their mistakes, take RESPONSIBILITY for their own futures.  Whatever 'social injustice' or other cultural issue is quoted at me does not fill my heart with sympathy; I simply did not do those things, did not cause those problems, have not been unjust.  I've never treated anyone different, never looked down my nose at anyone, and I spent much of my own life in unpleasantly tight financial condition.  I understand being in debt and working to pay my way out of it.  I have personally reached out to several individuals, helped with money and time, and in all but ONE case was rewarded by the wasting of my money and the end of my friendship.  It appears, judging by anecdotal evidence, that helping family is the worst of these ideas.  But friends are next on the list.  :-)

Democrats insist that everyone in need is equally innocent and deserving, and my lack of desire to give is due to my innate cruelty and greed.  Now, politicians know human nature very well; they would not be where they are without that knowledge.  But they take this position which they know is untrue, that poor people are angelic and innocent and rich people are evil and greedy.  They do this in order to win over the poor as voters, knowing there are simply more of them than of anyone else.  It is totally cynical; NOBODY is actually helped by this system.  The poor are kept poor and told it's someone else's fault.  They get just enough to make it, just enough food, just enough of a roof over their heads, just enough to keep them from starving to death.  And they are constantly told that the evil rich conservatives are working to take even THAT away from them, so they'd best vote Democrat if they don't want to be hungry. 

The rich (which is a lot of people, and the more Dems raise taxes the richer you get) are essentially victims of government theft of their hard earned money, to be used for the purpose of purchasing votes for the party they OPPOSE.  

Conservatives say (or at least I say it, and Rush Limbaugh, but not enough politicians say it) that the best way to help everyone is to have such a vital economy that everyone has the opportunity to make it.  Everything should be tailored to help business, big and small.  Personal productivity is the key, whether in your own family or as a citizen of a nation.  And people do work harder when they have a better chance of prospering as a result of their efforts.  The best 'government assistance' we could give ourselves is a zero percent unemployment rate, a perfection that is unachievable but serves as the top end of a 'better, worse' scale.  The lower the figure goes, the more people are able to care for themselves and the fewer need 'charity'.

I cry at TV news stories about real suffering, hungry and miserable victims.  I am a sponsor of a child in Honduras.  I cry about suffering dogs and cats, for heaven's sake.  I find myself constantly shoving bills into this and that charity canister, using paypal to make donations to whatever need has caught my attention online, etc.  Half my junk mail is from charities who share donor lists.  It doesn't bother me.  I know they all need money, and I do what I can. 

I am first in line to give to those in need, but most in this country who receive taxpayer largesse are NOT those people. 

They are, instead, people with bad attitudes who do not try and cannot be bothered.   I feel about them the way the show's staff feels about this family; bitter, disappointed, stung.   How can they take the fruits of my labor and then BLAME me for their problems?  But they do, and it hurts.

The show's staff won't get suckered like this again.  I only wish, as a taxpayer, I had that option.

Lefties love to point out anecdotal weather activities to 'prove' that manmade global warming is going to kill us all.  Al Gore said, even while thousands were dying in Asia, that their cyclone was caused by global warming.

Nobody ever mentions the snow that fell in Baghdad this spring, and I predict nobody will mention the snow that fell in Sidney, Australia, this week.  Granted, it IS winter down under, but this is the first snow they've seen since 1836.

Surely it counts for SOMETHING.