Other Music from a... Different Kitchen

From: "Senzeni Here"
To: ian
Subject: I'm ok
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 09:38:56 +0000


Just over three hours ago, 4 bombs went off in Madrid.

I was where one of the bombs exploded 3 minutes beforehand.
I walked from the station, my bus came and the explosions sounded as
the bus drove away.

I am ok and I just wanted to let you know.

As of January, some 2.3 million payroll jobs have been lost in the United States since January 2001. If they are not regained by next January, President Bush will be the first president since Herbert Hoover to see the number of payroll jobs decline during his four-year term. (Payrolls fell by 24 percent under President Hoover but only about 1.7 percent under President Bush. Still, it makes a great sound bite.)

Mr. Bush's opponents aren't the only ones accused of playing politics with job numbers. In the 2004 Economic Report of the President, issued in February, N. Gregory Mankiw, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, predicted that the average number of payroll jobs for 2004 would rise by 2.6 million. J. Bradford DeLong, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley, said that for the average to rise by that much it would necessitate the creation of some 3.8 million jobs between December 2003 and December 2004 [emphasis added]. (New York Times)

Today I want to talk about the importance of small businesses. I want to herald the entrepreneurs. I want to say thanks to those who have taken risks. And I want to remind our fellow citizens that in order for our economy to recover we must remember the strength and the importance of the small business owner in America. -- Remarks by President George Bush to the New Jersey Business Community, Elizabeth, New Jersey June 16, 2003 (Official White House press release)

The small business sector of our country is vital for job creation. See, most new jobs in America are created by small businesses. Most small businesses pay a tax at the individual income tax level.

See, if you're a Subchapter S, or a limited liability corporation, just like the two small businesses I've spoken of today, then, when we cut individual taxes, it's really a cut in taxes for small businesses. It means small business owners have got more money to invest. And when they invest, it means somebody is more likely to find a job. It is essential for those politicians in Washington to know that individual income tax relief is incredibly important for job creation, not only because it stimulates demand, but because it provides a vital boost in the arm for the small business sector here in America. -- Remarks by the President on the Economy at Craneworks, Birmingham, Alabama (Official White House press release)

The Bush administration... has repeatedly cut the budget of the agency even as it faces higher demand for loans. The S.B.A. is the largest single source of loans for the nation's 23 million small businesses, and by its own calculation has helped to create two million jobs since October 2000.

Critics say the administration's proposal to cut $119 million, or 15 percent, from the agency's budget and to set it at $678 million for the 2005 fiscal year is a smokescreen for a goal of dismantling it. (from "From One Business to 23 Million" by Elizbeth Olson in the New York Times)

“I'm not going to sit here and tell you what my interaction was … and what I did and didn't do, except that you have to have confidence to know that when I believed that somebody was misconstruing intelligence, I said something about it.” -- George Tenet, director of central intelligence (Kansas City Star)

The famous "bullet-time" effect in "The Matrix"? Borrowed from a video Mr. Gondry made for the Rolling Stones' version of "Like a Rolling Stone," in which Ms. Arquette walks through a party where time seems to have slowed. (From "Captain Video Prepares for Takeoff" New York Times)