On Markets

As I watch "the Fed" scrambling to fix the current credit crisis a thought occurs to me. I wonder if providing credit to the characters that made many bad decisions is chasing good money after bad. I also wonder if such credit will be used to create jobs in China rather than in America.

It used to be that the economy slumped and credit flowed and jobs were created and there was more money to spend.

Are we at the point now, though, that the economy slows and credit flows but the infrastructural investments strengthen our competitors? To put it another way, is our tax money making China even more competitive?

How exactly does "the Fed" justify bailing James E. Cayne out of his Bear Stearns losses to strengthen America's economy?

If "the Fed" allowed me to get the 2.5% interest rate to refinance my house, rather than giving it to J.P. Morgan to gamble with, I could save myself $88,268.40 overall, or $2942.28 per year. This figure is even more generous than the Bush tax-credit, and it is a far longer lasting stimulus to the economy. From an investment point of view, I have never missed a payment and I'd be offering collateral. From what I gather in talking to people, many American homeowners stand to see gains far exceeding my own.

What makes J.P. Morgan a better investment than your average Moe?

Lobbyists, no doubt.

On ignornace

There is more than one way to be ignorant. One way is to fail to achieve your goals through the application of ignorant actions. Another way is to use wise actions to achieve ignorant goals. This is the type of ignoramus that sits in the white house today.

Conventional wisdom offers some guidance with the addages, "Look before you leap", and, "Be careful what you wish for."

But, one of my favorite quotes is, "Common sense isn't all that common".

Why?

Because Man is attracted to much that is harmful. It is a flaw in the design and something we must keep in mind as we act. The architects of the US Constitution knew this and it is why they designed our government to check and to balance Power. The architects of the Abrahamic Religions knew this and it is why the story of Adam and Eve is preserved through the centuries.

A democracy, when it operates in such a way as to reflect the will of the People, is an effective way to weed out the bad actors. Selfish actions by leaders leads to widespread discontent and opposition...in a healthy democracy. We have the widespread discontent in America but not the opposition. Democrats were swept in with a mandate to change the friggin' course only to announce that "Impeachment" is "off the table" and the "Power of the Purse" will not be used to end the war.

That is historically called "loyal opposition" and it is what I suspect troubles Ralph Nader enough to run every 4 years. He takes "a pox on both your houses" approach, and I am tempted but not swayed by him

Why?

He doesn't seem to build a movement between election cycles. We don't have instant runoff voting, the only way to break the two-party lockdown. And, once you've peed in the pool nobody is going to swim with you - in other words, he would be a president without supporters, a leader without followers.

It is tempting to believe that the force of your own moral example is enough to change the world. I'm not so sure people are capable of fundamentally changing. They have been yelling, "Crucify him!", rather than giving thanks for millennia. People only pretend to honor the Prophets, because living like them requires more love than exists in the typical human heart.

At least that's the way I see it.

Trickle-down

I like to think of good and evil as seeds planted in all men's hearts, as pods inside us that will grow roots and spread if nurtured.

I like to think of the societal rules under which we live as a type of fertilizer for these hidden seeds. In societies in which facts are valued more than opinions good is nurtured and evil withers (meteorology replaces virgin sacrifices). In societies in which Justice is valued more than punishment goodness grows and evil weakens (courts replace witch-hunts).

Conversely, when you have a US president continually promoting torture it is a type of cultural fertilizer which makes evil weeds from evil seeds mature into evil deeds. Justice is then perverted into punishment, Beauty into a prostitute, tolerance into bigotry, knowledge into opinion, intelligence into ideology, and community into angry mobs.

And... soon enough evil weeds begins to spread in our communities, in our bedrooms, and in our schools.

As the weeds gain strength they begin to choke off the plants which bear fruit. Voices of reason fall on deaf ears (global warming gets ignored), Voices of compassion fall on deaf ears (Darfur gets ignored), Voices of humanity fall on deaf ears (Guantanamo gets ignored), Voices of Justice fall on deaf ears (Habeas Corpus gets tossed), and the eyes of men grow dull to Beauty (witness suburban sprawl).

Some version of this mental exercise has been put forth over the ages through Philosophy, through Religion, and through Art. The message is this:

Honor the light or live in darkness
Worship the good or be ruled by evil
Watch the garden or lose the fruit

In the Bush era the bees leave us.

The super-highway of progress

I sez, "Facts which conflict with ideology are not speed-bumps on the super-highway of progress."

I sez, "A raging civil war is not a "sectarian strife" speed-bump."

I sez, "The unjustified death of a US soldier is not a "regrettable sacrifice" speed-bump. It is a foolish waste of life and the result of morally corrupt leadership."

I sez, "Murdered Iraqi civilians are more than ingrates incapable of dining on our abundant harvest of Liberty."

Candidate McCain seems to hold many Utopian ideologies dear, including a free market fundamentalism that is more properly called unregulated bubble-economics (bubbles rise in warm wind and like to go, "Pop!"); and, after 7+ years of America "moving in the wrong direction" he continues to idolize the responsible ideologies.

Ideas might come from Republicans and Democrats but that doesn't mean Ideas are partisan. A capable leader must simply use what works and discard what doesn't. By definition, an ideologue is a follower not a leader. An ideologue will drown in a mud-puddle believing he can fly his way out. Look at Herr Bush flap, flap, flapping away and you can see your future with McCain in charge (all flap no flight).

We are winning the war.
You are going to get more chocolate.
Strife is a measure of success.
Less is more.

The Lord Gene

Gay scientists have been working hard to isolate the gene that turns ordinary people into Christians. For more information see this fascinating report:

glumbert - Gay scientists isolate Christian gene

The Wright Stuff?

I heard a lot about Obama's recent speech called, "A more perfect union", so today I searched for and found the video.

Full text

George Lakoff is cuckoo for the speech. You can read his comments here.

Since deciding that I prefer Barak to Hillary I haven't felt conflicted. Hillary seems like she's angrily imploding while equating attacks against Obama with making the case for herself. It is not the same thing at all, otherwise my own criticism of the president Bush would qualify me as your president.

The way of the vegemite

Here is a 40-minute talk by Dr. Colin Campbell, author of "The China Study".

T. Colin Campbell Presentation

I have been mostly adopting a vegemite diet and so far it is going well. I say mostly because I am intent not to be a fanatic about this. Here is my outlook:

• I have meat in the freezer that I'm not going to throw out since an animal died to provide it. 

• If I'm going to do this, then one key is good recipes. I don't know how to cook vegemite dishes, so I've been perusing vegetarian cooking magazines. That has provided an influx of  ideas.

• Thinking about food like this has turned out to add a lot of interest to meals. One success was  the idea of fixing a nice meal, to both try out new recipes and to illustrate that a change like this doesn't have to be a martyr's experience. On the menu were stir-fry turnovers and sage/pumpkin-balls with white wine and then desert (a chocolate-pie with date-nut crust).  I think that was a good idea. Everything looked, smelled and tasted good and I was full.

• Cheese is really good on a lot of things and that will be tough to eliminate, perhaps even impossible for me. I think I'll reduce the amount of cheese I eat by using Parmesan cheese grated on things, as well as a sprinkling of nutritional yeast. It is a quality vs. quantity approach.

• I have no desire to become a fanatic about my diet. Life is short and uncertain and there are times when I am going to consume animal protein (i.e. holidays, Super-Bowl parties,  weddings). I'll leave horror, guilt, and shame to the vegans.

• I'll steer away from the fake-meat products, which usually look unappetizing and invite comparison. I want to strive to make food that tastes good in-and-of itself. Vegetables have a lot of color and flavor and simple techniques like roasting or sautéing develops them further. I don't think there is any need to make "meat-like" dishes and I believe this is a self-defeating approach given my experience with a Tofu "hot-dog". Anything more disgusting than a hotdog will only be found in my trash bins.

• Having said that, though, I have found a few substitutes that I like. I prefer the taste of rice milk to soy milk, and like Nature's Gate brand. I like Morning Star "chicken" nuggets. I also like WholeSoy & Co.'s soy frozen yogurt. So, I am not going to be fanatical about avoiding substitutes either.

• I really like soup and I'm going to figure out some good ones. I saw a Tuscan bean and green soup that looks good and French Onion soup ought to be possible.

So far this approach is working out well-enough for me. I have had a pizza with friends here, and burger at a BBQ joint there, but on the whole I have reduced the animal protein in my diet by a large magnitude. 

Simplicity Itself

Politicians are great at generating confusion when campaigning. Here is what I intend to keep in mind come November.

This is an election to pry power from the finger-tips of people that have abused it. If I live to be 140 years old I expect to never see economic, moral, and foreign policy failures of this magnitude, duration, and cost.

In short, I will vote for a gassy mule with a powder-horn in it's butt over a Republican in 2008, and that goes double for one so misguided as to see success when he looks at 4,000 deaths, 5 years, and no political progress.

Where in the world is Dick Cheney?

Vice president Dick Cheney's current tour du war includes stops in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, and Turkey. You might ask yourself, "Self. What is Dick doin'?"

DEBKAfile, an Israeli-aligned intelligence-reporting site, reports that:

Our military, Washington and Gulf sources report that US Vice President Dick Cheney is again talking about possible US military action to shut down Iran’s covert nuclear program.

Full Details

I know it is late in the president Bush's term, but those incompetent violence-addicts need watching.

Dick

The past sez...

"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all His laws. Our passions, ambitions, avarice, love and resentment, etc., possess so much metaphysical subtlety and so much overpowering eloquence that they insinuate themselves into the understanding and the conscience and convert both to their party."

- John Adams in a letter to Thomas Jefferson -

Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952), 21-22

The present illustrates...

Raddatz: Two-third of Americans say it’s [Iraq war] not worth fighting.

Cheney: So?

Raddatz: So? You don’t care what the American people think?

Cheney: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls. There has, in fact, been fundamental change and transformation and improvement for the better. That’s a huge accomplishment.

-Excerpt from an interview between Martha Raddatz, chief White House correspondent for ABC News, and vice president Dick Cheney in Oman. -

Source

I sez...

Shouldn't someone with Dick Cheney's record have more humility? 

Shouldn't a public servant in a democracy have a higher regard for the will of the people?

Dick Cheney reminds me more and more of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il.

Delegate math

Barak Obama has 1413 pledged delegates and 208 super delegates for a total of 1621 delegates.

Hillary Clinton has 1242 pledged delegates and 237 super delegates for a total of 1479 delegates.

John Edwards has 18 pledged delegates.

Democratic candidates need 2024 delegates to win the nomination.
Obama therefore needs 403 more delegates (1621 + 403 = 2024).
Hillary needs 545 more delegates (1479 +545 = 2024).

3118 delegates awarded so far (1621 + 1479 + 18).
There are 4047 total delegates.
There are, then, 929 delegates remaining.

There are 566 pledged delegates left, ranked in descending delegate order below:

Pennsylvania has 158 delegates and votes on April 22nd
North Carolina has 115 delegates and votes on May 16th
Indiana has 72 delegates and votes on May 6th
Puerto Rico has 55 delegates and votes on June 7th
Oregon has 52 delegates and votes on May 20th
Kentucky has 51 delegates and votes on May 20th
West Virginia has 28 delegates and votes on May 13th
Montana has 16 delegates and votes on June 3rd
South Dakota has 15 delegates and votes on June 3rd
Guam has 4 delegates and votes on May 3rd

This means there are 363 super delegates remaining (929 - 566)

Now that we have the info we can look at the odds.

Obama needs 403 of the 929 remaining delegates, so he needs 43.38% of the total to win the nomination (403/929).

Hillary needs 545 of the 929 remaining delegates, so she needs 58.67% of the total to win the nomination (545/929).


Here are the places she garnered those kinds of pledged delegate numbers:

Hillary won 59.14% of the pledged delegates in Massassachusetts's (55 of 93).
Hillary won 59.91% of the pledged delegates in New York (139 of 232).
Hillary won 63.16% of the pledged delegates in Oklahoma (24 of 38).
Hillary won 66.66% of the pledged delegates in American Samoa (2 of 3).

Source

I cannot resist pointing out here that Democrats will be counting the votes in Guam, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa while ignoring those of Florida and Michigan.

God Talk

If you want to see someone reasonable discussing the athiest viewpoint, you can't do much better than this opening statement by Sam Harris:



This statement was part of a debate with Chris Hedges. You can view the full exchange here:

Truthdig discussion

Finally

Obama finally sat down with the Chicago press and answered all questions about Tony Rezko.

Details here


With that albatross flung off his neck I feel a lot better about candidate Obama.

So much so that I think I'll do a post shortly on delegate math and Hillary's predicament.

Determination

Here is a link to a video of Bill Moyers interviewing former journalist Sarah Chayes. She has been helping to rebuild Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban.

Hope is irrelevant

She seems like a remarkable woman and I admire her fortitude.

Woman in red

Vanessa Cariddi grew up in Maine and from a young age was captivated by opera. If you've ever traveled around rural Maine you'd know how improbable that was.

Knowing nothing about opera I will describe her voice as luscious. She appears in this video dressed in red and on the right:



Here is a link to her website: Vanessa Cariddi

I've seen enough of Hillary

I've decided that I've had enough of Hillary's campaign. She just drove me away with this bit of shameless, scorched-party groveling for votes:

"I think you'll be able to imagine many things Senator McCain will be able to say. He's never been the president, but he will put forth his lifetime of experience. I will put forth my lifetime of experience. Senator Obama will put forth a speech he made in 2002,"

Source: Clinton on her plane en route to Fort Worth from San Antonio.

Now I hope she loses in a rout.

ADDENDUM: So much for a Texas rout, but now Hillary has been caught exploiting racism.

Her desire to win now exceeds my desire to vote for her.

Whitewater too?

The worst-case scenario I can come up with for Democrats in 2008 goes something like this:

1. Obama locks up the nomination
2. The press suddenly realizes the Tony Rezko story (see here and here) is worth looking at after-all.
3. The trial becomes a circus, with Obama forced to testify.
4. John McCain plays the race card.
5. Al Sharpton rides in and kicks the hornets nest.

Maybe it is a good idea for Hillary not to concede the nomination after-all?

Jack Nicholson endorses Hillary

Here is a YouTube video of Jack Nicholson endorsing Hillary Clinton:

The one that got away...

As I watch the case of Roger Clemens unfold I am reminded of another public liar that got away. The one I am thinking of lied to the American people, the U.S. Congress, and our closest allies and the end result was another Vietnam.

On one hand, you have an aged and overweight pitcher sticking pharmaceuticals up his butt to extend his career, and on the other, casualties in the tens of thousands.

Which one finds room on Ms. Pelosi's table?

Turkish Invasion

Turkey has been attacking the Kurds in Northern Iraq:

Turks rolling along


The Kurds have managed to oversee one of the more stable areas of Iraq, probably because they hated Saddam Hussein so much (they were the "own people" in the sentence "He gassed his own people").

How will they view US inaction in the face of such an intrusion into the free and soverign, happy and virtuous, somewhat sandy Iraq?

What happens if the Turks mistake US soldiers for Kurds?

What happens if Iran decides to defend the Kurds?

What if the UN decides to send in peace-keeping troops (I know I'm being absurd)?

Isn't this story a little bit bigger than the attention it draws from the corporate media?

How much are the Kurds going to take?

Vegans

I mentioned earlier that I don't like the word "Vegan" and it's true. What I don't like is that vegan doesn't describe someone that eats a healthy diet, but rather a whole lifestyle.

Perhaps I should go with "plant eater", or the Latin version "plantaedere", or "herbivorous", or "vegemite"? Whatever the phrase it should identify someone that predominantly eats plants, but isn't going to say no to thanksgiving dinner with friends or proper superbowl fixin's.

I need a word that means adopting the food for its' health benefits without rigidity, while rejecting the vegan-culture.

I suppose Americans working for social change in the sixties who weren't interested in adopting hippie culture faced the same grammatical challenge. Society likes its' pigeon-holes. Either you are "anti-war" or a "hawk", and you're not expected to oppose dumb wars on their demerits without being pegged a dove.

C'est la vie.

Mission Accomplished?

In 2007 901 US soldiers died in Iraq. That is a 3.4% increase from 2006's 871 deaths (details here). There is also no foreseeable political progress being made (the ostensible reason for the escalation), Iraqis are neither safe nor free, and yet Osama still is.

However, the public is being sold on the idea that this constitutes a "success". It is clearly a marketing success, and one favoring John McCain, the presidential candidate with the most enthusiastic aspirations for escalating and extending our occupation.

Studying The China Study

I have been raised as a carnivore with a fondness for gravy. I enjoy bacon, and steaks, and pork chops, and lamb chops, and fried chicken, and brisket and pulled pork, and grilled salmon. I am sure that over a lifetime I am personally responsible for more than one barnyard's decimation. And I don't like the word vegan either.

But, I have been reading "The China Study" lately, a book about nutrition by T. Colin Campbell. It is a book which promotes a whole-grain, low-fat, vegetable based diet, the benefits of which include...

Living longer
Having more energy
Lowering blood cholesterol
Reversing heart disease
Preserving eyesight
Stronger bones
Avoiding impotence
Avoiding strokes
Prevention of kidney stones
Avoiding Alzheimer's
A lowered risk of prostate, breast, and other cancers
Avoiding arthritis
and it may help to prevent diabetes.

The evidence suppporting Dr. Campbell's findings is scientifically based, well presented, and startlingly clear. So much so, that I am reconsidering the way that I eat.

I am reminded of a passage from Plato's Gorgias, during which Socrates wishes to denounce oratory by comparing it with "cookery"...

"Cookery puts on the mask of medicine and pretends to know what foods are best for the body, and, if an audience of children or of men with no more sense than children had to decide whether a confectioner or a doctor is the better judge of wholesome or unwholesome foodstuffs, the doctor would unquestionably die of hunger. Now I call this sort of thing pandering and I declare that it is dishonourable - because it makes pleasure its aim instead of good, and I maintain that it is merely a knack and not an art because it has no rational account to give of the nature of the various things of which it offers. I refuse to give the title of art to anything irrational..."

Source: Gorgias

Why is it that desire and reason pull in opposite directions?

For now I am going to incorporate more vegetables and fruit into my diet and take things one meal at a time. I'll write about this book some more, and leave you with a handy link for more information:

The China Study

Singing Friday

Sung to the tune of Cocaine, by Eric Clapton

McCain

If you wanna end war you better not vote for; McCain
When Saddam is gone and you wanna fight on; McCain
It's no lie, It's no lie, It's no lie; McCain

If you wanna drop bombs, bombs on Iran; McCain
Don't forget this fact, we're still in Iraq; McCain
It's no lie, It's no lie, It's no lie; McCain

If you got bad news and wanna keep them blues; McCain
It's a pain in the ass all this expensive gas; McCain
It's no lie, It's no lie, It's no lie; McCain

He won't leave, He won't leave, He won't leave; McCain

U.M.

Mitt Out

Mitt Romney has decided to call it quits.

Details here
Read his speech here

Let's take a look at the math for the Republican race:

The total number of Republican delegates is 2,380
The total number of delegates awarded so far is 1,197
Therefore, there are 1,183 Republican delegates left

Republican candidates need 1,191 delegates to win

John McCain has 714 delegates
Therefore, John McCain needs 477 more delegates, or 40.32% of those remaining.

Mike Huckabee has 181 delegates
Therefore, Mike Huckabee needs 1,010 more delegates, or 85.38% of those remaining.

If all of Mitt Romney's delegates (286) should go to Mike Huckabee, then he will have 467 delegates.
Therefore, Mike would need 724 more delegates, or 61.20% of those remaining.

Ron Paul has 16 delegates.

I'll leave that math as an exercise for the reader

From JFK to GWB with love

Someone took one of the latter speeches of John F. Kennedy and set it against images which place the Bush years in context.




I think the speech was given at Columbia University shortly before Kennedy's murder, and is referred to as, "Speech on Secret Societies and Freedom of the Press".

His voice and his words still have the power to linger, specifically these for me:

"Even today there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its' arbitrary restrictions. Even today there is little value of insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it."

I'm just saying...

Mike Huckabee, the candidate, manages to wear his religion on his sleeve even more than his Mormon opponent. So on a day that he swept the south, I find it interesting that...

Tornadoes swept the south, killing at least 45


In the Bible God shows his displeasure via natural forces. So, if you're a Bible-believing Christian in "Huck's Army", then how do you reconcile these rare, winter, killer tornadoes with your enthusiasm for Huckabee?

Mike Huckabee won in Tennessee and tornadoes killed 24 there.
Mike Huckabee won in Arkansas and tornadoes killed 13 there.

Kentucky voters are leaning towards Huckabee (Survey USA).

I can't find a poll for Mississippi, so the case is incomplete.

Could God be trying to warn the faithful here, or is it a simple coincidence?

How does one know for sure?

ADDENDUM: Alabama, which Huckabee also won, is now under tornado watch.

ADDENDUM2: Alabama wound up one of the "worst hit states" joining Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Here are pictures of the devestation: BBC News

Storm Cloud Norman

In a January 23rd Wall Street Journal article Norman Podhertz has an argument with himself and defends the position that he was right all along about Iraq and somebody needs to bomb Iran. He argues...

"The upshot is that if Iran is to be prevented from becoming a nuclear power, it is the United States that will have to do the preventing, to do it by means of a bombing campaign, and (because "if we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long") to do it soon."

Source

Some of the assumptions in the piece are:

[*] It is the 2005 NIE (which corroborates his opinion) that is correct, not the 2007 NIE (which does not).

[*] There is only one solution to the problem of Iran and it involves dropping bombs on Iran. Every other idea is crap.

[*] The threats of Russia and China are irrelevant considerations.

[*] George W. Bush will get this one right (third time is the charm).

[*] Once the bombing is finished, Mission Accomplished. There will be no appetite or instrument for revenge.

[*] Our military doesn't have enough to do at present and would be delighted to escalate the conflict.

[*] Israel will escape the bombing our bombing is concerned about.

[*] All the other western nations need weathermen to know which way the wind blows.

[*] A democratic president, or John McCain, couldn't possibly be a match for Bush-administration competence.

[*] A tanking US economy, stretched thin by tax-cuts, corruption, and war, can survive an energy price hike.

It must be nice to live in a world where you are always right and every disaster serves as confirmation of your conceit.

Obama Super Tuesday Conundrum

What most unsettles me about Barak Obama is:

1. There seems a well-oiled hand guiding the love-fest and I don't know who that is. Here I am thinking about a "Business Roundtable" type organization (not angels or aliens). He has raised too much money for an unknown, garnered too many fawning press articles of adoration, and has too rapidly built an efficient political machine out of whole cloth. Bugs Bunny would say there is something that doesn't add up.

2. He has on a number of occasions used words and phrases which reinforce conservative ideology, for instance attacking Hillary over "mandates", praising Reagan, and so-on. Whatever Hillary's faults she doesn't attack the left, knowing to do so preconcedes the issue. Here's a very interesting take on this issue:

Freedom riders

3. The Obama campaign is committed to the democratic party only to the extent that it supports Mr. Obama: See here


What I like about Obama is that on Iraq he spoke up when it mattered and his speech stands up rather well to history:

October 2, 2002

What I don't like about Barak is where was his follow-through once he achieved Senatorial powers?

Who is this man and where does he want to go?

The most pronounced problem in America isn't that we haven't been left enough, or right enough, or center enough. It is that our leaders are too beholden to corporate string pullers to serve the common good. We can no longer implement an idea that works for everyone if corporate lobbyists tug their little strings.

Free-market fundamentalists would argue that unregulated capitalism is best for everyone. I sez, "Poppycock!"

I argue that Enron is one recent example of why that isn't so. I argue that executive pay packages are bilking owners of their earnings. I argue that Japan opened a car factory in Canada recently because Canada provides health care to their citizens (meaning health-insurance premiums are becoming a drag on our economy)

Are any of the candidates that remain going to cut some of those strings?

Is Obama?

That is what I'd be asking myself heading into the voting booth.

The debate

The democratic candidates have been whittled down to two, Obama and Hillary. Here they are in a debate which took place in Hollywood on 1/31/08:



Both Barak and Obama did very well swiping at Mitt Romney and the notion you need a CEO to run America (into the ground).

I thought Barak stumbled out of the gate and I am weary of his platitudes. I've never seen a candidate get such a free ride in all my life.

Hillary seems to be a candidate-by-rote. There is an automaton vibe in her coached gestures, smile, and answers.

What most interested me was the healthcare section of the debate.

Universal single-payer healthcare is cheaper, covers everybody, is employed successfully across the globe, and easy to understand. Canada has it and their economy is doing better than ours. It is too bad that neither candidate is willing to support it outright. Why not make the republican defend the mess we have now?

Barak says "special interests" a lot. Usually that is code for "unions". Is Obama fervently anti-union?

Hillary's healtcare "plan" was a disaster that we're still stuck with. Insurance was better and cheaper before politicians like her got involved. So why does she always bring it up as if we should be impressed?

Obama is fast on his feet. He stumbles a bit getting what he wants to say out, but his answers are usually steered in an intelligent direction. He got to the word "balance", as in balanced tax burden, when talking about funding his healthcare plan and that is something even people like Warren Buffet agree with.

There are a lot of things Hillary "would do", "when" that she "hasn't done", "now or then". As the president Bush has pillaged and plundered where was her outrage and thunder? Where was her opposition to the tax cuts, to the war, and on and on and on.

After all that talk about healthcare I have my doubts if either Obama or Hillary will be able to make anything better. The piecemeal approach they both talk about can be defeated on 1,000 fronts.

The point Wolf Blitzer wanted to hammer home and did was their plans require tax increases. What if either of them had talked about the savings that come from going to a universal single-payer healthcare system?

From and From

From the Constitution of the United States:

"No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law"

From the president Bush in response to a Law passed by Congress which forbids using federal funds to establish permanent US military bases in Iraq:

The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President.

Source

This is a rather obvious illegality that even Ms. Pelosi seems to have noticed and I didn't think she noticed anything that mattered.

Entering the ring?

Is Ralph Nader going to run in 2008?

Here is the place to find out:

Which side are you on?

I wish we had instant run-off voting in this country so I could cast a vote for Nader without worrying about screwing over my second-favorite choice. Then I could support him without reservation.

Does Nader have a chance?

Not this again.

Throwing in the towel

It looks like Colonel Klink and John-Boy Walton will be calling it quits today.

John Edwards was my top pick for the democratic nomination and it is difficult to see him end it. I think he would have done much better in the general election than Obama or Hillary.

Giuliani seemed to sink lower in the polls the harder he worked. Perhaps he wasn't willing to suck-up to the theocrats the way McCain is? Perhaps Americans are ready to move on from 911? Perhaps he isn't very cuddly? Whatever the case his campaign goes the way of Fred Thompson's, lot's of hype with little traction.

I suspect Giuliani would also have done better in a general election than some of his competitors. Perhaps instant run-off voting, at least in the nomination process (which requires no new laws, just DNC and RNC rule changes), would help candidates like Rudy and John, since it has a track record of selecting more moderate candidates with broad appeal.

Stating the obvious

"We believe that the most reliable guide for our country is the collective wisdom of ordinary citizens."

The president Bush
State of the Union Address
1-28-08
View Source

And what does that collective wisdom have to say about the president Bush?

Click here

The wheels on the bus go round and round

As America's problems escalate under bad management, or very good espionage, president "Smoke him Out" continues to embarrass us all with his idiotic annual ramblings known as the State of the Union address. It is like watching a loved one sinking to alcoholism, complete with bouts of denial and impaired judgment.

In his hands ignorance is a fault so pure as to leave no room for Reason, and perhaps this blissful state explains the perpetual smirk.

I have had too much of him a long time ago.

He has denied global warming in the face of undeniable evidence, and has asserted WMDs in the face of an absence of evidence.

He has pledged America's word to lies and done so without shame or apology.

He has abandoned one of our greatest cities (New Orleans) to speculators.

He has taken a strong economy and turned it into a weak one.

And worst of all he failed my Trust in him, bought with the blood of 911 heroes, and valued at nothing.

So, it was with great pleasure that I read this article in the Boston Globe called, Our one-way trip to disaster.

It is a meanness on my part, I suppose, to enjoy it when the president Bush is dealt a blow of ridicule, but I believe that if only more people would ridicule him democratic enablers like Nancy Pelosi might finally defy him.

Obama's dark side

I am not that high on Obama. He has the gift of oratory and a lot of style, but he doesn't seem capable or interested in defending democratic principles. His constant whining is not going to deflect Republican dirty-tricks, and the fact that he is black is not enough to attract my vote.

In addition, there is some dirty laundry in his closet involving a man by the name of Will Rezko.

Details here

And here


Will Barak-heads take the time to learn about his dark side before he is swept into the nomination?

Economic Stimulus

What does a liberal economic stimulus package look like?

Universal single-payer health coverage for all Americans.

Perhaps people could afford their house payments if they didn't have ballooning health-insurance premiums?

Between the cost of premiums, co-pays, and deductibles even many Americans with insurance cannot afford to get sick.

'Tis time.
'Tis high time.

My other healthcare idea this morning is this: Why doesn't Canada offer its' national healthcare policy to Americans? If our politicians are incapable of solving real problems anymore maybe we need to start outsourcing political solutions?

Why not?

Who is Sibel Edmonds?

A story that is receiving much attention abroad but none at home involves an FBI translator named Sibel Edmonds. Here is an informative article on her story:

Found in Translation

The questions this article raises for me are:

Could there be traitors very highly placed in the US government?

Why would Rupert Murdoch's media outlets report this abroad but not at home?

How credible is the Valerie Plame connection?

This story is particularly interesting given that I have just watched 3 Days of the Condor (in which Max von Sydow was terrific).

ADDENDUM: Daniel (Ellsberg) jumps into the lion's den on this story...

Read his comments here

Nasa: Global warming danger point approaching rapidly

This article discusses a warning from N.A.S.A. that global warming is proceeding at an accelerated pace:

Only a decade of can-do left

Here is RealClimate's Beginners Guide to Climate Change

How are Washingtonians addressing this pressing problem?

If you guessed by spending tax money to make the situation far worse you guessed correctly.

Coal is carbon

It is time to rally in support of any technology which doesn't produce carbon and oppose any that does. It is time for people to climb off their high horses and push carbon-neutral energy with one voice before those D.C. cretins spend tax dollars to burn pure carbon.

Mining coal pollutes the water and burning it pollutes the air. How ignorant of us, then, to accelerate global warming by burning it too.

Have you noticed?

Have you noticed that Canada, in spite of having a "socialist" single-payer healthcare system, has a dollar that is currently stronger than the US dollar?

Details here

I'd think a thing like that would get noticed.

Thin coverage for Edwards?

The corporate media seems to be encroaching on our democracy by narrowing the candidates for us. On the republican side they are doing what they can to ignore Ron Paul. On the democratic side Dennis Kucinich gets the shortest straw.

It also looks to me like John Edwards has received significantly less attention than he deserves. Someone in camp Edwards seems to agree:

Alien riders in the sky

Folks in Stephenville, Texas claim a large alien craft slowly flew over them:

Details Here

This sounded familiar to me. In fact, it sounded an awful lot like a story out of Phoenix in 1997:

Phoenix details here

According to the first article:

"Fourteen percent of Americans polled last year by The Associated Press and Ipsos say they have seen a UFO."

If the poll represents a random cross-section of the population at large, that would extrapolate to more than 20,000,000 people.

Those inclined to take no chances are busily constructing Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanies in order to combat alien mind-control transmissions.

I prefer to keep my tongue in my cheek, which has thus far proved no less effective.

Sub-prime market analysis from dummies

I thought it would be interesting to take my understanding of the sub-prime market fallout and explain it in terms even I can understand.

Some fast-talking promoters made risky loans look like safe loans using cell-phone-bill-like hoodwinkery. Many banks, including Citibank, fell for the smooth talk and invested in the risky loans (dubbed SIVs, or Structured Investment Vehicles) as if they were safe loans.

When the truth came out Jack discovered he traded his milk cow for a few magic beans that, when planted, did not germinate.

Thanks to the United Arab Emirates Sovereign Wealth Fund (at $7.5 billion) and the Government Investment Corp. of Singapore (at $6.88 billion) Citibank will likely recover.

What does it mean that a nation that is ranked 146th out of 167 nations by Reporters Without Borders in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index now owns a not insignificant piece of the world's largest bank?

Will American financial services soon follow American manufacturing overseas?

Will all of our financial information now be exposed abroad?

When I took out a mortgage I went down to the local branch of the local bank. Before the ink was dry, they sold the loan to Fannie Mae, who then sold it to a large regional bank, which was then purchased by Citibank, who is now partially owned by the repressive government of Singapore. The experience reminds me of being sold down the river, as in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

All these multi-tasking, multi-global corporations are racing humanity into a ditch using the ability to spend as their golden rule aren't they?

Is life to be nothing more than a dog-fight?

Warming signs?

It is uncharacteristically warm in New England this January, but as I type this a strange thing is happening. Several robins (about a dozen) are wandering around my snow-covered back yard looking for worms. They, of course, will never make it to spring since there will not be fruit on the branches for months, and while warm, it takes a great many warm days to melt feet of snow and thaw the ground.

Why did they come back so early?

Yesterday I noticed a spider come out of hibernation and build a nest between my window panes. Like the robins there is little opportunity for him to survive, unless spiders can go in and out of hibernation.

Are these signs of nature going out of whack?

The early bird is supposed to get the worm, isn't it?

'Tis a recession stupid

The Bush legacy of failure continues to flourish impressively, now making gains in the economic sector.

According to the BBC, Merrill Lynch says the US economy is in a recession:

Defecits don't matter?

House prices are falling while credit card debt is rising:

Sub-prime fallout

The unemployment rate jumped to 5 percent in December:

Whole numbers

Please vote for someone smart this year.

Do re mi

When I think of all the injustice that black Americans have had to suffer under America's racist past, few examples of it offend me as much as those often-told stories of black patients unnecessarily suffering because they were barred from white-only hospitals.

There is something revoltingly distasteful about the very idea of one human being denying medical care to another because of the color of their skin.

Last night I saw Sicko and it brought back these haunting stories. We may no longer have white-only hospitals but it seems we have green-only hospitals. They're a paradise to live in or see; But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot if you ain't got the do re mi.

I think that if you live in a country with universal healthcare you owe it to yourself to go and see Sicko. If you are American and watch the DVD version be sure to watch the feature on Norway.

It is a disgrace that 18,000 Americans die each year of treatable illness because they don't have insurance. It is beyond disgraceful it is sick.

Corporate Media

I have decided that I like the phrase "Corporate Media" better than I like the phrase "mainstream media". Most of our media is controlled by large corporate conglomerates, like Disney or GM, which have agendas that often contradict with the goal of truthful dissemination of information. It is why the "evening news" has become "infotainment". And it is why candidates that don't support American hegemony are barred from debates.

Well, the internet giveth when the television taketh away.

Here is Bill Moyers interviewing Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul

I think America has become too spoon fed when these contrariaen voices ar silenced.

Hillary's myth

Running for president seems to entail installing a myth into the public opinion and then carefully nurturing it.

Hillary Clinton, for her part, goes unchallenged as the "experienced" democrat. She chides others, Obama for instance, for their lack of it. She pretends at every turn to excrete experience from her every pore.

But...

Hillary has been a Senator from New York for a term and change and that doesn't exactly set the standard for excellence.

If she wants to argue she is experienced because she was close to Bill's success, then that seems like a weak position, especially for a democratic candidate. Experience through osmosis?

If she goes against someone like John McCain the myth she has so carefully built to win the nomination becomes exposed as hollow in the face of his record.

Now that she is struggling in the polls I wouldn't be surprised to see Obama pop Hillary's experience bubble, or else counter it by brining someone like Joe Biden aboard his campaign.

Since he is more Clinton than Clinton, perhaps he will follow James Carville's advice: "When your opponent is drowning throw them an anchor."

We shall see.

Tonkin avoided?

It has been reported in Newsweek recently that defense secretary Robert Gates instructed his commanders to keep cool heads, and particularly in matters that might expand our Middle-East conflict into Iran.

When I today read that five Iranian speedboats threatened 3 US warships in the Straight of Hormuz, but were not fired upon, I recalled the Newsweek story.

Given the U.S.S. Cole catastrophe who could blame the US contingent for firing on the speedboats?

I expect it isn't easy to stand down when you've got superior force and think this speaks very highly of the officers involved. With Iraq still volatile and our forces still extended it would be to our enemies advantage to widen the conflict.

Just another Genocide?

President Bush used the word "genocide" to describe the situation in Darfur, then promptly did nothing about confronting it.

In Burma the population is striving for democracy but being brutally repressed by, of all things, the "State Peace and Development Council".

Details here

President Bush has indicated that he is troubled by the trouble, but when are nations obligated to act?

This is a thorny question for a state, which likes to reserve the right to brutally repress dissent with waves of free-swinging, billy-club toting, tear-gas fogging police, for instance. How does one condemn brutality abroad without undermining the home-made variety?

Sir Thomas Moore, in his classic "Utopia" laid out 3 conditions for war.

1. When your nation is attacked.
2. When an ally (or trading partner) is attacked.
3. To free a People from tyranny.

Our war in Iraq might have met the third condition, but we overstayed our welcome in the form of an occupation.

What about Darfur and what about Burma?

Is it worthwhile to fight a war in a land without oil simply to free a People from tyranny?

Subterranean wonder of Italy

Here is interesting art news. As far as I can tell it is a true story.

World's Eighth wonder?

Every once in a while you see crazy benefit humanity.

Pat Condell to "Islamofascists"

I'm not sure who Pat Condell is or what triggered this speech, but there is something about this which seems new. YouTube is a global soap-box, but unlike those found in public places, it is a soapbox you intentionally encounter.

Here is Pat with a message to "Islamofascists". You will likely learn a few British put-downs:

Al

When Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace prize, here is what he said:

Al's Speech


Imagine how different the world would be if Al Gore was president.

It's easy if you try.

The Supreme Court of 2000 has a lot to answer for.

Prison Nation

The opening paragraph to this New York Times article dropped my jaw:

"About one in every 31 adults in the United States was in prison, in jail or on supervised release at the end of last year, the Department of Justice reported yesterday."

More here

4.7% of American adults were in prison, jail, or supervised release at the end of last year.

Wow!

The U.S. now leads the world in incarcerations per capita.

Wow!

Here are some explorations to help realize the enormity of these numbers:

Fenway Park holds 38,805 people when sold out. 4.7% of 38,805 people is 1,823 people.

If one in 31 adults was in prison, in jail or on supervised release at the end of last year and you were at a party with 8 people in it the odds are 77% percent that one person does not belong to that group (assuming the party-goers represent a random cross-section of the population)

(30 / 31) ^ 8 = 77%

If the party has 16 people in it (about the size of a hockey team) the odds become 59%, and at two dozen people the odds are 45%.

A football team has 53 players (with 11 on the field). That's a 17.6% group.

The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental will now seat 467 people. That's a 0.00002% group.

Effusive thanks are extended to Roger, who was persuaded to de-dumb my probability efforts. You can read interesting analysis by Roger on the 2004 election:

Here and here.

On wet wood

Is waterboarding torture?

Of course it is.

Anybody that uses this practice in America's name brings dishonor to himself and his nation. To fail to "keep the honor clean of the U.S. Marine" is a dereliction of leadership which leads to a crisis of morale.

Low morale often leads to stories like these.

Waterboarding is torture and the legal justification for that assertion is straightforward. The U.S. government is a signatory to the "Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment". We signed it and are therefore obligated by law to uphold it.

We are not, and the president Bush has no Constitutional authority to break treaties. He may escape his due Justice due to Nancy Pelosi's exasperating sense of duty, but engaging in waterboarding (aka Chinese water torture) makes the United States of America a liar and a criminal.

Why pretend otherwise?

When you share the moral stage with Communist agents, Nazi war criminals, and witch hunters it is base to expect applause.

So why give it?

All the same to you?

Question 1

A father does not like the way his daughter dresses so he strangles her to death. When the police arrive the girl's brother fights with them trying to prevent their entry.

Is this family:

A) Amish
B) Christian
C) Muslim

Answer here

Question 2

A woman is raped and this rape transfers shame unto her family due to societal customs. Therefore the father and/or brother of this rape victim murders her and it is considered honorable.

This family lives in:

A) Canada
B) Spain
C) Pakistan

Answer here


Question 3

Which "Holy Book" advises, "Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it. But you may hate a thing although it is good for you, and love a thing although it is bad for you. God knows, but you know not"

A) The Christian Bible
B) The Buddhist Tripitaka
C) The Koran

Answer here

Question 4

"On January 23 , 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl disappeared in Karachi, Pakistan. He was scheduled to meet with a source, but it turned out to be a trap. For the next month, his colleagues, friends, and family searched for him frantically, and then a video arrived. It depicted Pearl admitting that he was Jewish and culminated in his on-screen decapitation by..."

A) Franciscan monks
B) Islamic militants
C) Christian anti-abortion militants

Answer here (PDF)

What is the lesson to be drawn from a sober reflection of these answers?

San Francisco Treat

Here is some guitar playing by a friend of mine that often plays in the San Francisco area. If you like ragtime music and prefer it played with gusto, then you'll enjoy the music of Craig Ventresco




If, perhaps you prefer Spanish-flavored guitar, then voila, here you go:



And here is a sentimental favorite:



And finally, a fine duet and novelty song:




Thanks YouTube. It's been a while since I've seen my ol' friend strummin' around.

Corpocracy is here

Serious people that don't like what they see when they look at Wall Street and tell their fellow Americans about it have a way of becoming "Ross Perot'd", that is, they fall from the good graces of the plutocrats.

That hasn't happened in Mr. Monks case, perhaps because his illuminations reliably precede catastrophes (like Tyco's rocky fall from the good graces of investors). Now, this former appointee of Ronald Reagan is warning that democracy is taking a back seat to what is supposed to be a means and not an end (i.e. a corporation).

Here is a link to an article which discusses some of Mr. Monks views at Corporate Crime Reporter: Monk on a Mission

I haven't read my copy yet, but I look forward to doing so soon. If I have pricked your interest click the above picture to be taken to the Amazon page where you can purchase a copy.

Solidifying democracy's defeat

Have you heard of Senate Bill 1959, known also as the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007?

Here are the full details

Think un-American activities commission and you begin to get the gist of what it is, except this bill goes much further and has the scope to criminalize thoughts.

I expect this bill wishes to criminalize political Islam within the United States, but the trouble is the bill is so broadly worded as to criminalize whatever whim strikes those with the power to enforce it.

Perhaps some examples...

If Mitt Romney becomes president and decides non-Mormon Christians are radical then they would be arrested.

If Hillary Clinton becomes president and decides Norman Podhertz has a "radical agenda" then he would be arrested.

If Rudolph the red-nosed Giuliani becomes president and decides that gun owners are "adopting an extremist belief system" then they would be arrested.

If Ron Paul becomes president and decides that democrats are "trying to coerce the civilian population of the United States in furtherance of political objectives" then they would be arrested.

Is it wise to give that much power to people that crave it as cravenly as politicians?

What a believing Mormon believes...

Mitt Romney is a Mormon and a believing Mormon believes this about black people...

That black skin is a curse from God for being descended from an evil race of people.

It is said that, "As a man believes so will he act."

N.I.E. on Iran

N.I.E. stands for National Intelligence Estimate. It is the term paper, if you will, of our N.I.C., which stands for National Intelligence Council, on some subject.

In this case, the subject is Iran's nuclear intentions (PDF)

The N.I.E. contradicts the president Bush and his bluster regarding Iran so the republican response is twofold Blame the messenger and Keep up the pressure

Do these misguided liars aspire to make of our world a throne of ashes?

When does Ms. Pelosi expect to take up the responsibility associated with her office?

The core of hell

I think that Dante was wrong about hell, but that it wasn't his fault. They didn't have electronic gadgets back in his day. How could he have known that deep down in the bowels of hell there would be a core used to cruelly torture scientists that brought blinking and beeping things into this world?

I cite two recent examples and leave you to consider them:

1. I have on my new car a safety feature called Dynamic Stability Control. It is a whiz-bang feature that improves handling in slippery conditions. However, when it engages an icon flashes three times in yellow. Blink. Blink. Blink.

Why?

At a moment that I am slipping and sliding my dashboard wants to distract my attention from my driving to tell me that I am slipping.

This engineer, I sez, will be subjected to the special torments of the core of hell. As his feet, say, are placed in the brimstone an icon on the wall will flash warning him about the temperature. An insistent beep will beep beep beep along with the blink blink blink. The devil jailor will grin.

2. While shopping for band-aids recently a motion-activated advertising gizmo blurted out a verbal assault upon my person in a child's voice. It wanted me to take interest in a purple-whatzit to cover my "ouchie". It took the trouble to repeat this helpful advice every thirty seconds. If I had a hammer that thing would have been a pile of plastic fragments wrapped in purple whatzit. Needless to say I moved on without making a purchase of band-aids.

The marketer, and the engineer, which inflicted this scourge upon the rest of us will be subjected to the special torments of the core of hell. As their sides are pierced with hot pokers they will hear helpful advice every thirty seconds offering them purple whatzits.

Again, I don't blame Dante, since how could he have forseen such monstrous behavior?

CIA Operation Pincer

Is the CIA "going operational" with a plan to destabilize Venezuela?

Operation Pincer

This would be a lot of people to harm just so oil companies can earn even more obscene profits at our expense isn't it?

Aren't we supposed to make the world safe for democracy?

Is the US now going to destabilize all nations that use national resources for the benefit of their citizens?

Look out Norway! In fact all you Slavic people best be on your guard. Don't think we'ze don't know what yur a doin' over thar' jes because it's cold. We knows. We seize eva'thang.

ADDENDUM: Embassy official accused of trying to sway public opinion

Right on time?

Too greedy

I don't eat a lot at Burger King but after reading this story I am going to eat nothing from Burger King. When greed goes this far there should be a response. So, however humble my one-man boycott may be, I am going to do it anyway.

An avalanche can start with a pebble can it not?

Scrooging migrant workers

Power

Generally speaking you gain political power by preying, or praying, on People's fears. To cite two examples, the fear of death turned into the power of religion and the fear of poverty turned into the power of communism.

It struck me that as I thought about power that America's enemies and America's politicians are invoking the same methods against us. That is, the power to divide is the power to conquer whether you are employing a "red state" political strategy or waging a holy war for the glorification of an imaginary friend and his poet.

I began to wonder...

How can America defeat the external threat of religious extremism abroad, while pandering to it at home (see, for instance, John McCain's supplications)?

How can America promote cooperation abroad while miring itself in partisan bickering at home?

Have we become too divided to stand?

Is there that which unites us anymore?

Lists

It is getting to be the time of year for "Best of" lists, so, here are some of my favorite rebukes of the Bush administration (since 2000):

Channel Surfing the Apocalypse (love the banjo):



Will Ferrel as George Bush on a ranch in Texas:



Stephen Colbert Roasting the president Bush:

2006 White House Correspondents Dinner

And an excerpt from the final scene of the Chaplin masterpiece The Great Dictator, written to skewer Hitler and Mussolini but applicable to all training-wheel tyrants that want to turn the clock of human progress backwards:

Edwards onto something

John Edwards' campaign is onto something with the "Politics of Parsing" pieces.

Here is installment two



Cha cha cha

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Security Trust

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is author of the books Infidel and The Caged Virgin: An emancipation proclamation for Women and Islam.

Not surprisingly she has become so much the target of Islamic wrath that she needs a security detail 24/7 to protect her from the "religion of peace". The Dutch government used to provide such security, but when she traveled to the U.S. for safety's sake the Dutch revoked her detail and announced it to the world, placing her in grave danger.

Sam Harris has set up a website with an urgent appeal for donations to cover her security costs:

Helping Ayaan


A little-discussed fact, for some reason, is that there are no more committed enemies of Islamic fascism than liberals. Islam cannot tolerate multi-culturalism. Islam cannot tolerate feminism. Islam cannot tolerate free inquiry. Islam cannot tolerate secularism. This is why New York is despised by Islam. This is why London, too, was attacked. Jihadists can't stand freedom so they can't stand liberals.

Ayaan is in danger because she is a committed to freedom and here is the question you must answer: "Is it important to give aid to a voice that challenges the barbarism of political Islam or isn't it?"

Time is critical now that the Dutch have shamefully deemed toleration of intolerance a virtue.

My global warming

Ever wonder what would happen to your neck of the woods if/when sea levels rise in response to glacial melting?

Wonder no more. Here is a link to a site that displays an interactive map adjusted for user-selected flood levels.

How high's the water mama?

Imagine the potential for disaster planning.

Why protest?

I suppose I blog because it is my way of publicly acknowledging that I do not agree with the behavior of the Bush administration. I do not agree that we should torture abroad and suspend habeas corpus at home. I do not agree that Iran poses a serious threat to America. I don't agree that Iraq attacked us on 9/11. I do not agree that politicizing the department of Justice is good for America. I do not agree that striving to "drown government in a bathtub" is a good way to govern. I do not agree that supporting the troops means cheerleading incompetence.

The war in Iraq is something I find particularly exasperating. The reality is that our objectives in Iraq don't matter a whit because the president's incompetence exceeds all challenges placed before it. Furthermore the specific challenge of Iraq has been hopelessly doomed. Look at this recent news, for instance:

Clashes between rival Shiite Muslim militias in the holy city of Karbala today killed at least 50 people, torched three hotels and prompted Iraqi authorities to order the evacuation of more than 1 million pilgrims from the shrine where they had gathered.

More than 150 people were injured in the helter-skelter panic that followed random gunfire by militants in the Mahdi Army loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada Sadr and those of the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

....The death toll threatened to climb, with witnesses reporting dozens of bodies in the streets surrounding the Imam Hussein shrine and amid the smoldering rubble of the three buildings set on fire during the rampage.

Source

Every day seems to bring worse news from Iraq but everyone in Washington talks as if Iraq is a land somewhere over the rainbow where bluebirds sing.

President Bush does not seem like he will ever learn from his mistakes and I cannot imagine how he ever kicked the alcohol habit with denial like he possesses. I hear admitting you have a problem is the first step one must take.

Good and Beautiful things...

At times when life presses in with its burdens it pays to be aware of the Good and Beautiful things that surround us.

Here is one such story about a cat named Sergeant Podge:

A little pick-me-up


And here is a 15-lateral football play in which Trinity U. defeats Millsaps 28-24 with two seconds left to play:



Here's a video about Moebius Transformations which is engaging to watch:




And we end with a crowd-pleasing link to a video of a hockey brawl that is seriously out of control. Perhaps it is neither Good nor Beautiful, but it is incredible to see.

Halifax Jr. Fight

Down in Memphis

One of the things that struck me as I toured Memphis, Tenn. last year was how many people were homeless.

One other thing also struck me. It seems that in order for a homeless person to get a bed for the night they must come up with about 7 dollars. The effect of this is predictable. All the panhandlers for miles ask not for change, but for 7 dollars.

The local political response seems to have been to post signs asking citizens not to give money to pan-handlers. This would be the 7 dollars they need for a bed thanks to their earlier policies.

We have the mouse eating the cheese and the cat eating the mouse.

The next step is easy to predict. Police will begin dogging tourists that respond to pleas for money.

This will not likely be a boon to tourism. Perhaps this will even create even more homelessness?

In Florida people have been arrested for feeding the homeless. Perhaps they have already taken steps one and two and are now moving to criminalize compassion:

Details here

There are always so many obstacles to behaving well in this world of ours that I don't enjoy stories like this.

Let the bar raise!

I hate to scapegoat our media for the mess the US is currently in, when it is of course the Bush administration and republican ideology that deserve the lion's share of blame, but every once in a while a story comes along which is so important for it's unimportance that it speaks volumes. Such a story has just appeared in the Washington Post, a paper which in my opinion reached a new low.

They wrote a story about Hillary Clinton's boobies: Tits to win?

Then, rather than apologize and correct for the lack of judgement, they tried to defend the nonsense (here) with an article that begins "A journalistic assessment of Hillary Clinton's cleavage became the most improbable presidential campaign controversy yet".

I will take my response no further than to point out that you cannot conflate "journalistic assessment" and "cleavage" in the same sentence if you want to maintain credibility. You will hold your readers attention, Janet-Jackson-like perhaps, but do people take their news from Janet Jackson?

In the interest of journalistic thoroughness may I suggest a few more topics of national importance which the Post must assess?

• Just exactly how large of an imprint, in square inches, does the backside of Karl Rove make at the beach? What is the volume in cubic centimeters? How many yards of cloth does his tailor use to make his pants?
  
• What is causing the sickly pallor of John McCain? It seems to have come on about the time he "made nice" with the president. Is he still in possession of his soul?
• How is Condi Rice's bust-line holding up these days? We have been treated to an article about her boots and her shoe purchases but her titties have been sadly devoid of thorough journalistic attention.
• Is Joe Biden a Pomade man or does he prefer Dapper Dan?
  
• How much does president Bush pay for his haircuts?
• Certainly Madeline Albright must have had days where her hem-line was a little higher. Are there any articles in the archives equating that with saucy teasing? What about for Margaret Thatcher?
  

"Tisk, tisk!", I sez, and "Tut, tut!"

Impeachment for Cheney?

Articles of impeachment for Richard B. Cheney have been brought to the floor of the House by Ohio's Dennis Kucinich. Here he is reading them:

A. B. C. Impeach Cheney


Most people seem to know it should be done, yet everyone politely pretends not to notice.

Most everyone, that is.

Beautiful

Not many political ads can lay a claim to beauty, but that is really quite a masterwork:





It shows both why I don't care for Hillary Clinton and why John Edwards is my favorite.

I watched it again and again.

If you would like to see it again try the official version where you can also support the Edwards for president campaign:

La la la la laaaaaa
Ba da bump.
Ba da bump.
Ba da bump, da dump dump.

Candies and Flowers

Here are a few memorable lies told to us about Iraq:

We would be welcomed with candies and flowers. We would be welcomed as liberators. Gratitude would name boulevards in Iraq after American presidents. This war would be short, sweet, and self-financing.

Iraq could attack us with their stockpiles of WMDs.
Iraq could pass their WMDs off to al Qaeda.
Mushroom clouds could blacken our skies.

We'll turn a corner just as soon as we get Saddam.
We'll turn a corner just as soon as Iraqis vote.
We'll turn a corner when we kill al-Zarqawi.


The lies keep coming and coming and coming from the president Bush and his administration. When caught in a lie they lie, then lie about it.

According to Andrew Tilghman, even the presence of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is "a myth":

Story here

Haven't you had enough?

You aren't going to keep listenting to tall tales about Iran, about progress, about valuing the opinions of commanders "on the ground" are you?

Where is the tipping point, the straw that breaks the camel's back, the cry of wolf rejected?

Stop believing him. Stop pretending he has credibility. Stop it!

Covering sick children

Here is an analysis of the health care debate over SCHIP. It was prepared by the Rockridge Institute which rethinks progressive politics:

Which Child Left Behind?