Brian Gongol

Despite Natural Disasters, No Reason to Call 2005 a Bad Year

British Lottery Winner Misses Deadline, Loses About $20 Million

Russia, Ukraine Fighting Over Natural Gas Supplies
Most of the world's major conflicts come down to issues about resources

Superbug Called MRSA Floating Around Irish Hospitals

Japan's Bird Flu Scandal
Rumors of secret vaccines and illegal switching of infected birds all contribute

Moscow Mathematician Says It's Not 2006, But Rather 963
He gets it from reading the Bible literally, which is generally not advisable when discerning scientific issues

British Woman Held Hostage By Gaza Palestinians Says She'll Go Back
Her parents were held captive along with her. The problems in the Israeli/Palestinian region won't be solved by well-meaning but un-levelheaded Westerners showing up on goodwill tours -- it'll happen when prosperity pulls the Palestinians out of poverty.

Chinese Leadership Trying to Revive Marxist Ideology
Rising tide of prosperity increasingly threatens the Communist Party, so the revival of ideology is seen as a way out. Marxism is fundamentally flawed in many ways, not the least of which is its assumption that capitalism inevitably begets "bigness". That's entirely untrue -- creative destruction regularly kills big businesses much better than the power of the state ever could. Besides, the "Communist Manifesto" was laughably wrong.