Clinton is a spoiler

The media spin is that there still is a race between Clinton and Obama. This seems to me not to be the case. Clinton, having only won 14 contests to Obama's 30 and trailing by almost 200 delegates does not seem to be much more than a spoiler now.

But what really showed me who is Presidential material was Obama's speech last week. He took a big negative, did not run away like a coward, and took the matter head on and used it to great advantage. It takes brilliance in order to see the way through such trouble. He and his team seem to me to be the only team running that really has what it takes to lead. McCain and Clinton are not the leaders that Obama is. It is the hight of stupidity to say that because Clinton or McCain have a lot of Washington experience that they would make better Presidents.

History does not shine a good light on "experienced" Presidents. The most experienced President of the 19th century was Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's VP. He was a monumental failure and presider over massive corruption, and was impeached. Lincoln on the other hand, was the least experienced President of that century.

Again in the 20th Century experience is no indicator of greatness. Wilson and Eisenhower were probably the least politically experienced Presidents in the history of the Republic while Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon two of the most experienced.

What makes a President great or a loser is contained in his or her own head and who that head keeps around it. The best man for the job is Barrak Hussain Obama. No other candidate has been so maligned and yet comes through cleaner than before the mud was slung.

Clinton and McCain are the past, of a different age, and unfit to carry the glory of America into the future. If you want a caretaker who will accomplish little, let America drift along without reclaiming her manifest destiny, then by all means vote or McCain or Clinton. If you believe in America then vote for Obama.

VP prospects for Obama

With a delegate lead of almost 100 after the overwhelming victory in Wyoming and Caucuas win in Texas, Obama needs to really be thinking about who his VP coice will be. While Clinton is trying to pretend to be the natural choice, of who I am not quite sure, Obama needs to think beyond the next several contests that he is sure to do well.

The VP should not be another Cheney. Bill Richardson is one name that comes to mind, as does Governor Shwitzer of Montana. Another name that I would recomend would be John Kitzhaber of Oregon. I would stay away from a senator or rep.

Notice I did not mention Clinton. That is because she would be a death scentance to any campaign.

Limbaugh and the right fear Obama

Today Rush, the reactionary idiot not the band, told people on FOX NEWS to vote for Clinton in the open Texas primary. Why? Well he and his kind have spent so many years getting ready to fight the Clinton Wars II, that to face Obama would mean certain defeat. Clearly Limbaugh and his ilk are scared of Obama. If the right-wing-nuts are not scared of Obama then they would not care who is the Democratic nominee. They want Clinton since they have grown up hating that family. It is kind of pathetic if you think about how much effort the right has wasted on the Clintons.

This hatred will be their undoing. Their myopic approach, which of course is their way of seeing most things, to the Presidency has proved both boring and nonsensical. Years ago I said that conservatism is, in the end, worthless since it dooms itself to spin itself into a storm only to tear itself apart.

H. Clinton's strange rant?????

Well it was actually wolfson's rant. But more to the point what was he ranting about? Obama being negative? Sorry, and no pun intended, but isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? Obama has had to suffer accusations of being a terrorist, a white man, a black man, a muslim, and a guy who refuses to put his hand on his heart at ceremonies. What exactly has Clinton been accused of? Running a poor campaign and expecting her husbands coat tales to elect her? That dog don't hunt.

"Enough of the speeches and the big rallies!" What in the world is Clinton trying to say? I guess she is trying to say, stop acting like my husband in 1992. Stop acting like a winner. Stop acting white! Black folks are there to vote for white saviors like me!

Obama is the future and the more Clinton opens her mouth about his negativity, which is a joke since I have not heard him go negative at all, the more she seems like the past.

McCain and Clinton are Obama's biggest supporters. So speaking for Barak I want to say, Thank you both so very much! Now on to the convention!

Nader 2008!

The complete irrelevancy of Ralph (also ran and screwed things up) Nader is something not to behold. His vainglory is matched only by his self righteous stupidity. Nader by mucking things up in 2000, has done more harm to America than he can imagine. All those American lives he saved with his consumer advocacy can now be put on the scales next to the hundreds of thousands of deaths he helped to cause by letting Bush-Co into the White House.

He is the joke that was not funny to begin with, being trotted out again at this years party, only to fall flat again. I had respect for this guy but no more. If he thinks his running ads a moral voice he is wrong. His voice has lost all that long ago. He is part of history, a history that is over now. His kind, like Bush and McCain and Clinton, are so busy fighting last decades wars that they fail to see the future.

Another reason to vote for Obama

If you look at the campaign organization of Clinton, McCain, and Obama, it is clear that the Obama camp has the best. If you look at coherency of planning, fund raising, routing of funds correctly to do the most good, etc. there really is no doubt which camp is the best run.

This should be seriously considered by any voter trying to make up there mind. Remember that candidates usually drag their campaign staff right into the White House on "Day 1". Using organization as a guide, I would say that Obama will be more ready on Day 1 than either McCain or Clinton. After all who was ready on Day 1 of the campaign? While Clinton and McCain have had to scramble, reorganize, hire different staff, and borrow cash to plug funding holes, Obama has calmly built a Campaign Juggernaut.

Voters are STUPID!

Okay for all the idiots who do not understand our political system here is the low down:

The caps are for effecting a screaming tone

WE ARE NOT ELECTING A PRESIDENT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS, AND COMMUNISTS, AND GREEN PARTY PEOPLE ARE ALL TRYING TO NOMINATE PEOPLE WHO WILL REPRESENT THEM IN THE ELECTION TO COME!!!!!!!!!!

OPEN PRIMARIES ARE STUPID SINCE, AS A DEMOCRAT, I WANT DEMOCRATS TO DECIDE OUR PARTY NOMINEE, NOT SOME IDIOT WHO CAN'T MAKE UP HIS MIND, OR A REPUBLICAN WHO IS TOO AFRAID TO THINK FOR HIMSELF AS A DEMOCRAT. IF YOU ARE AN "INDEPENDENT" AND WANT TO VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT OR A REPUBLICAN IN A PRIMARY THEN FOR HEAVENS SAKE BECOME ONE!!!!!!!

PEOPLE WHO ARE "NOT AFFILIATED" WITH EITHER THE DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS SHOULD SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT HOW WE CHOOSE OUR NOMINEES.

Hopefully this will have educated the masses a bit.

Thanks you.

Poll Crunch for 2008 so far...

Bush has been so horribly thought of for so long now that I gave up even doing a Poll Crunch. I decided to do the most exhaustive Crunch yet so I can get back on track. Since it is an election year and since it has been a while since I delved into the publics opinion of Bush, I was prepared for a shock.

Has the surge helped our man in the White House? Has he climbed out of his funk? Perhaps all the hullabaloo of the current race of the Presidency has caused America to rethink old W. My crunch took 17 separate polls done from the 1st of the year until today and averaged them all out. So with no more BS here is the Poll Crunch...

We like the guy!: 30%
We dislike the guy: 66%
We are too stupid to know: 4%

On another note in the Virginia primary yesterday Obama got 500,000 democratic votes, Clinton 300 and some thousand. McCain got 133,000 votes. In other words Obama got almost 5 times more votes in Virginia than McCain got. Heck even Hilary beat McCain in Virginia.

Another telling bit of trivia was that in South Carolina the Democratic vote grew by 82% since 2004 while the number of Republicans casting a vote shrank by 24%. The country is clearly looking for something new. Since we are stuck with the Dem's and the Rep's we keep ping-ponging hoping that one side will eventually get it right.

The Jenga Tower

I remember playing Jenga and getting a tower pretty high. Then the table got bumped and the whole thing collapsed. I was thinking that the socio-economic foundation of the world is getting bumped and those who in habit the top of the Jenga Tower are in the wobbling mode.

We take so much for granted. The ideas of nations, republics, kingdoms, corporations, seem to set in stone. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that all is constantly in flux. What was a good idea and social stable 200 years ago may not be such a good idea now. Progress in lots of little areas tends amount to upheaval overall.

Those closest to the table feel the movement first. They are whipped off their feet and though they see the effects first are powerless to do anything about it. The people at the top can last longer, but this is an illusion. If the wobble is severe enough the top swings beyond the point where the structure can self correct and down it goes.

History is full of this constant changing landscape of society. Always those on top are the last to accept the new normal. Those on the bottom have no choice to accept or reject it. The top really has no choice either. It is not as if the top can simply say "we do not want things to change so they will not!"

I will give two examples of this process. The first such example is Rome. Rome was not just a city. It was a way of life. The reason Rome became the dominant organizing factor in the its time was that provided a stability and harmony that allowed for socio-economic expansion. However things change and after several centuries the underpinnings of Rome ceased to foment this expansion.

Another example is the ending of feudalism in Europe. Like Rome the social and economic system that had allowed expansion in Europe ceased to work. Technology, and the location of money changed the way the expansion could work.

In both cases lots of people, primarily on top, tried in vane to pretend like their organization was "eternal", or ordained by God. I would say that I would rather live in the monotonous and predictable middle of these societies than in the times of flux. I seriously think we are in a time of flux. The institutions and structures we have relied on in the past to allow expansion are under enormous strain and progress is making many aspects of our civilization anachronistic.

Examples:
Global finance: Does anyone really think that any nation is in charge of its economic destiny?
Global communication: Does anyone really think that they can control the flow of information?

These two are making the very ideas of the old nation-state model obsolete. Communities and commerce is now organizing globally in a way that is out of any nations control. Nations that are used to democratic thought will have it easier than the nations that are totalitarian.

I was listening to World Have Your Say (BBC) and the topic was athletes free speech regarding the Beijing Olympics. Two Chinese people were saying that the athletes should focus on competing and not using their status to speak out on world affairs. All the callers from Democracies thought this was a stupid argument since China itself is using the games as a political statement. China, and nations like it, is well behind the times. China should never have wished the games on its soil if it did not want such controversy.

Lest We Forget

Cost of war at that the beginning of this blog entry: $492,737,622,437

I know that there are so many aspects of our lives that keep us busy and demand our attention. Presidential races, Celebrity drug overdoses, lots of shootings here and there and all the bills we all have to keep paying all keep us on our fearful toes.

So I must draw attention to the fact that we are still in a war. Let us see where we are at as of now. Well things in Baghdad look better. Anbar province looks more peaceful. Mosul on the other hand is a mess. Diyala province is also a mess. We are working to rest control of Mosul from the bad guys. My fellow blogger Najma is hunkering down with her family and trying not to get killed. Two professors from her school were gunned down within the last month and a bomb blast interrupted her final exams. This kid is something else. Despite all the crap befalling her city she still goes to school.

I am not a military man but I have a brain and can think. This situation does not seem to be much better at all. We are being fed the line that things are calming down. But what does that mean in the long run? As the “surge” troops cycle out and the force level goes down the vacuum will probably begin all over again.

Remember what Bush, the Democrats, the Republicans, and all the talkers keep saying. We will leave when the Iraqi army can handle things. Think about that for a moment. The US, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, etc do not need their army’s to maintain order in the country. Free nations have armys for external threats not national order control. If everyone who is in power now or is likely to be in power in the future, is telling us that we will leave Iraq in a state that requires its national army to maintain order, then they are telling us that we have failed in Iraq. Democracies do not need tanks in the streets to maintain order.

I find it hard to believe that when we pack up and go home Iraq will settle down. The surge has slowed the fuse to the bloodbath but not extinguished it

Cost of war at the end of my blog entry: $492,739,367,550

Money expended by US taxpayers during my blog entry: $1,745,113.00

What else could the US spend $275 million a day on?

Stupid Tuesday Now Over!

Where do I start? Well I guess I start by saying that I am about as pleased as I can be with the results. Obama is eeking out a win in Missouri and McCain is finishing off the other dunderheads. Why is Missouri so important? Is not California the big prize? And after all in the Democratic party most delegates are given out proportionally.

The reason that a Missouri win for Obama is important is that NO candidate in over 100 years has won the White House without carrying Missouri. A win in this heartland state is vital to set the stage fore the general election for an Obama win. I know that Clinton did well on Super Tuesday, but Obama did just as well.

I'm so pleased that it is really looking like no matter who wins America will get a good President. And again if you think McCain is another Bush you are mistaken. Who were his big buddies in the Senate? Kennedy and Fingold, not exactly card carrying Neocons. The conservatives hate the guy, which is a good sign.

The other really terrific thing about Stupid Tuesdayu is that it looks like Oregon's vote might actually count!

The woes of subcontractors and the Army

Contractors providing unsatisfactory meals
Contractors grossly over charging for services barely rendered.
Contractors under no command and control
Contractors basically costing way too much money

2008 US Army?

Wrong it was 1660's French Army. When Louis XIV came to the throne he inherited an army that was a mess. Of the many challenges he faced was contractors and subcontractors that were bilking the crown for lots of money while providing piss poor services. His answer was François Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, or simply Louvois for short.



He was the Secretary of War for the French king and he dealt with the contractors by the following means:

If a contractor was found to be providing bad service they had a hangman’s rope around their neck. Then they were taken before the unit they were servicing and flogged. He got rid of much of the contractors since he did not like the idea of divided loyalties.

We could learn a thing or two from this guy.

President Who II ?

So now we are down to basically 4 candidates. I will not belabor the poor electoral process that forces so many good candidates out so early. We now have 4 to choose from. What do I think now?

I have read the website of all 4 people seeking the office. They all sound pretty good. Each has there fair share of "nudge-nudge-wink-wink" statements designed to pander to the right or left. But on the whole there is a markedly non partisan tone to much of what each has to say. Clearly they are trying to appeal a broad spectrum of people. This makes the fringe idiots mad since they want a fire breathing ______ (fill in blank with either liberal or conservative)

Here are some quotes:

"Now, we know that government certainly isn't the answer to all our problems – that's not even close. But we also know that good government – smart government -- can be a partner for progress. It can help us solve problems and accomplish things together that we could never accomplish alone." -Hillary Clinton

"The teenagers and college students who left their homes to march in the streets of Birmingham and Montgomery; the mothers who walked instead of taking the bus after a long day of doing somebody else's laundry and cleaning somebody else's kitchen — they didn't brave fire hoses and Billy clubs so that their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren would still wonder at the beginning of the 21st century whether their vote would be counted; whether their civil rights would be protected by their government; whether justice would be equal and opportunity would be theirs. . . . We have more work to do." - Barak Obama

"A democratic government operates best in the disinfecting light of the public eye. Ethics and transparency are not election year buzz words; they are the obligations of democracy and the duties of honorable public service." - John McCain


Romney's site was boring. The three listed above are really the only contenders that need be considered. None of them are Bush or even close to Bush.

As for partisanship there is NO love lost on McCain by the republican right. McCain's own mother said this to TIME this past week, when asked if she thinks the republican party will let her son be nominee.

"Yes, I think holding their nose they’re going to have to take him." - Roberta McCain

I cannot predict who will be President this coming fall. I have total certainty it will be one of the three mentioned above. This is a good thing. Any of those three would make a very good President that we can be proud of. None of them are perfect, or agree with me on every issue. But on the core issue of leadership through the use of ones intellect all get a passing grade. Each has a deep well of experience to draw upon to help them along. Each is a fighter and is willing to actually put themselves on the line for us. This is a good thing. All three are actually smart enough to be President.

My take on Heith

There is nothing so unatural than to be separated from your child. The pain is huge and spirit destroying. If Heith Ledger split in September then his holidays would have totally sucked. The anguish of not being with your kids is just the worst of the worst. I totally understand if this was the cause behind of his death. Be at peace now.

Family Values

My Definition:
Honesty with children and parents
Loyalty to family even in tough times
Being compassionate and merciful at all times
Treating children as human beings not property
Being unafraid of others
Teaching children not to be afraid.
Be willing to say you are sorry and mean it.
Do not expect more from a child than you do from yourself.
Embrace the world
Teach your children to embrace the world
Be patient with yourself, your spouse, and the children
The glass is ALWAYS half full or more so
Give all love unconditionally. For there is no other kind.
Practice what you preach

Why:
Honesty is first and formost. Lying to a child is a sure way to make them mistrust you when ever you open your mouth.

Loyalty, not blind loyalty, but honoring the family unit and being willing to fight and die for it.

If you cannot treat you spouse and children with compassion and mercy you should not be in a family or have one. Go get help.

Children are humans and you will spend far more years dealing with them as adults than as little kids. Start treating them as individual people from the start.

You cannot be a good parent if you are afraid of the world around you. The children pick up on that fear and begin to wonder if you can protect them and then they begin to fear the world, their sole filling with dread.

There is nothing so monstrous as a parent who makes a mistake and never acknowledges it. If you wish your children to admit their failures then you have to do the same.

He that is without sin cast the first stone.

Embracing the world is done by learning and always keeping an inquisitive nature. Never shutting down and turning away. Children see your love of knowledge and wish to imitate it.

Patience is so very hard and so very necessary. But it must flow to the whole family. It does not good to be patient with your own foibles and not with the kids and your spouse.

Life is short and full of trouble. Best to see the good side.

Love given in any other form than unconditionally is selfish control, loathsome, cruel, and hateful to God.

The last is self evident.

Parents owe their kids at least as much as the kids owe them. Remember the kids did not ask to come into the world. They were dragged kicking and screaming into it.

Almost Dead

Every once in a while I get to retell the story of how I almost died. Well here we go again...

It was 1992 and the date was January 9th. It was a Saturday Morning. My partner and I had parked at Timberline Lodge at 11pm the night before and had spent the night time hours slogging up the lower slopes of Mt. Hood, up the ski slopes, past the warming hut, beyond the top of the Palmer Chair, then turning northwest we made our way to Illumination saddle.

At the saddle, a wind blasted notch between the summit ridges and a rocky horn, we met up with two other climbers. By 4am it was quite light out and we all began a slow descending traverse of the upper reaches of the Reid Glacier. The western side of the mountain, though easily viewed from Portland, is remote. It also takes the steady prevailing western winds, driven across 5,000 miles of ocean that would rage across the western face like sea spray. That day it was very calm and the winds were from the east. We could see spin drift blowing off the summit. Ice tinkled down around us.

There was a silence on this day. I could here my hart pounding in my chest and here the breath of others. That was about it. I had felt reasonably good all day and was feeling strong. The ice and snow was good. There had been an avalanche earlier and the loose snow was gone. We all moved up in two rope teams, toward icy cleft known as Leuthold Couloir. As we entered the fall line of the couloir we entered an ice stream ankle deep of near constant spin drift. The ice rang across my boots. The little ice stream had scoured a glass smooth surface and my crampon points didn't bite more than a few millimeters into the rock hard gray ice.

The other two climbers were well ahead of us when my first worries began. I had felt strong and was positive about reaching the summit. Then in an instant I came down with a bad case of mountain sickness. It was as if my world was ending. I had trouble moving up or down. We sat for a time on a mushroom of rime ice. It was turning into a beautiful day with a deep blue sky and gentle winds. With little wind it was getting steamy, not bad for January. But here I was almost unconscious. I lay with my head against my partner as he tried to revive me with juice, candy, none of it worked.

Finally as I lay flat on the rime ice, he carved a bollard and began the first of 8 repels down out of the couloir. I can't tell you how hard it is to lower a full grown man down 800 feet of ice, mainly because I did not have to do it. My partner did. I can tell you that I felt like a hell, getting banged up as I slid down the slope.

When it came time to traverse I was feeling better and we started back toward Illumination saddle. About half way up a steep ice sheet whose surface had the look and feel of ten billion ice cubes all dumped out and froze together, I fell.

I tried to self arrest but the art of self arresting is the art of getting it right the first time. If you fail to self arrest in a fall there is very little hope of arresting again. I picked up speed, caught a boot on one of the ten billion ice cubes and did a back flip, with my ice ax out of my hands and flying about me.

As the back flip happened my brain split into two people. One was screaming for his mother. I know it sounds melodramatic but it was true. I was screaming for my mom and as spun down the slope. This screamer had no idea who he was or where he was or why. He only needed his mother, nothing more. He did not even understand what was happening to him. He was suffering from pure, uncut, unfiltered terror. There was no peace, no comfort, no happy endings.

The other person was totally detached and listening to the screamer in puzzlement. "So I am going to die." He calmly thought while his other self screamed away. He also did not know who he was. This other person was not afraid, he was robotic and noted that all he could see was a dark blue blur followed by a white blur and that this vision repeated endlessly.

Then I stopped. I pendulumed back and forth then came to rest on my stomach face down hill looking down the throat of the Reid Glacier. When I opened my eyes the two people became one and that one was a mess. I had no idea who I was, where I was, what had happened to me. Total amnesia. I remember beginning to scream again that I did not who I was.

Then my parters called down to me. This was the equivalent of hitting the reset button. I suddenly was in possession of the facts. I had tripped, fallen, failed to arrest and cartwheeled about 80 feet. I was banged up. I remember laughing with pride that I did know my name and said it over and over again as I began to ascend to the saddle. In 30 minutes we were both sitting on our packs at the saddle, the sun blazing down on us. My partner had saved my life.

I was then, it seemed, more alive or aware of the act of being alive, than ever before or since. I danced down the mountain as happy as I have ever been. I noted the sky was blue, the sun white hot, the hills and mountains a grand spectacle and the whole world the epitome of magnificence and splendor. There was no vale of superficial problems blurring the world. All was crystal clear and nothing beat the feeling and knowledge that I was alive. I felt like I had my finger stuck in the light-socket of the Holy spirit. And there was no religious mumbo jumbo about it either. No quires of angels or God in a tunnel of light either. Only the feelings of absolute certainty of death and absolute certainty of life. And God said LIVE!

I would not wish the profound sense of horror I experienced on anyone. It is a feeling so awful that it colors my feelings toward any persons death. I know that I do not want to be alert enough to know about it going to happen. At the same time it sharpens the focus of life, if you can escape its grasp, so that even momentarily you get to see how spectacular life really is, any life, all life.

I will die again someday and probably not luck out as before. Will I meet that day with a sense of "oh yeah I remember you." Or scream for my mom. I will let you know.

The Sun King

With great anticipation I have delved into the story of Louis de Burbon. Why? Certainly not because I think Louis XIV was the pinnacle of enlightened leadership. The story of the builder of Versailles, the Grand Monarch, Machiavelli's Prince made flesh, is mainly interesting to me for the simple reason that Louis was able to take a state that had been plagued with a weak king and turn it into a state with a king who had total control (theoretically) of his state.

What I have leanred however is to put a very different face on this "absolute" monarch. Far from being the total tyrant Louis, though successfully destroying the nobility and reducing it down to The King, Dukes, and everyone else, was the king of a state that was out of anyones control. France in the 17th century was suffering from the effects of a command economy, similar to that of the Soviet Union.

In its attempt to control the flow of money into the state, its policies systematically destroyed the agricultural production. Taxes had no uniformity accept in that they were all collected inefficiently and came into the hands of corrupt civil servants. So horribly was the tax system mismanaged that it is estimated that it cost France 25% of the collected revenue just to collect the taxes.

France had the most regressive tax system imaginable. The wealthy paid practically nothing while the artisans bore the brunt. This crushed innovation, industry, agriculture, and the people themselves. Only the very poor or the very rich got off.

The best that can be said of Louis XIV is that his vast expenditures, and reduction of the power of the middle aristocracy, set France on the road to revolutioin. Louis XIV was the grandest king of his age and the longest reigning monarch in the history of Europe. The Sun King burned so brightly that the fire of French kings died out within a century after his death. Would it were that England had suffered such privations it too would no longer suffer the silliness of monarchy.

Climging on Mars

What else could get people wanting to go to Mars? Extreme sport! Climbing Everest? tish tosh! What about Olympus Mons the highest mountain in the solar system. At 88,580km high the mountain dwarfs little Everest. The first "problem" would be a 6,000 meter escarpment to gain the gentle lower slopes of the mountain. The second problem would be the long slow slog up the remaining 79,000 meters, a slog that would require a trek of approximately 150 miles up hill. The caldera rim encircles a crater that is roughly 53 miles in diameter. With 3km absail you could reach the caldera floor.

RIP Edmund Hillary

Here is a guy that really lived his life to the fullest. It was luck that put him on top of Everest. If a few things had gone differently other men on his expedition would be famous. But he and Tenzing Norgay were the first. Tenzing had already nearly summited on another attempt.

People who do not climb mountains do not understand why other do. There are lots of reasons, but I think the main reason is that we just like to explore. The inner kid lives in the great explorer. Hillary also was on the first team to reach the south Pole since Amundsen in 1911. He also took off with Neil Armstrong in a ski-plane and landed on the North Pole making him the first human to stand on Everest and the two poles.

"He devoted all of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan trust, which he founded and to which he had given much of his time and energy. Through his efforts he had succeeded in building many schools and hospitals in this remote region of the Himalayas. He was the Honorary President of the American Himalayan Foundation, a United States non-profit body that helps improve the ecology and living conditions in the Himalayas."

And he seems not to have been a jerk. He had a life lived to the fullest. A true human being.

Why?

Because he is listening to what people say and is crafting his message to address toward those concerns. Populism. Now being a populist can be good and it can be bad. Currently, in this era, it is a good thing provided that it is real.

People are sick of corporate owned Presidents and politicians. That is what put FDR in the White House. The reality of life the America is radically different depending on your economic status. Most all the politicians are so wrapped up in the arms of the moneyed elite that they don't really have a clue as to the average American's angst.

Huckabee was another winner based, not on any religiosity, but on his very democratic sounding message of workers needs. Edwards was also helped by his staunch support for the average Joe. The big ticket guys and gal did not fair so well.

As Barak Obama said Iowa is not the end it is the beginning. So we shall see how things develope. I am very pleased that the political scum (Grover Norquist crowd) are worried. Good. God rot the lot of them and may his mighty hand support the men and women who wish to bring more economic and social justice to this land.

Happy New Year!

Well the new year is upon us. And I must say for me it has been a very swift and adventurous start. My daughter got her first car yesterday! This is quite scary, not that she is not a good driver, but that it is yet another chapter of my life, and hers begun. I remember pushing her on a swing set and carrying her on my shoulders, and hiding out in her Lion-King tent and playing dolls. Now she is driving her own car. She is paying for it and the insurance and the gas.

I feel proud and sad at the same time. In seven more years I will be doing this again with my younger daughter. I told her that she is starting 2008 by getting a new car and will finish this year in college. Wow! I need God's help quite a bit these days.

Now onto other matters:

Iraq:
Hopefully this year will be better than last. As I have mentioned in an earlier blog, General Patraeus and Mr. Croker are really the last option for us there. They have been proving their worth by doing what should have been done years ago. It is monstrously sad how many soldiers and civilians might be alive today if the current occupant in the White House had listened to reason in the beginning.

Regarding the "beginning":
Even if the war ends this year, and I hope it does, the farce in Iraq will still be the worst blunder in US foreign policy. It was a war the NEVER HAD TO HAPPEN. UN resolution 1441 that ordered the Iraqi's to get rid of their WMD (remember that term?) was actually adhered to since we now know Iraq had already gotten rid of them. This was the reason the US used as a justification to go to war. Let us never forget that. The farce in Iraq has cost us almost half a trillion dollars and thousands of gallant soldiers who deserved better than to be sent to war for nothing.

The election:
Well Iowa is tomorrow. So what. I am tired of the entire election hinging on the machinations of a couple dinky states. Give all of us a chance to be heard!

John McCain:
I really hope he pulls out a win and even ends up with the nomination. As a final poke in the eye to the unlettered simpletons that tore him down in 2000. Then again modern Republicans have not been noted for their skill at choosing good leaders.

Barrak Obama:
The best man for the job. If you want a different crowd in the White House, he is the guy. Lets just not end up shooting him and making matters worse.

Benazir Bhutto R.I.P.

As we modern Americans struggle with the concept of having a woman President, Pakistan has already had a woman leader. Since Benazir Bhutto left Pakistan that country has gone down a rabbit hole of radicalism, dictatorship, and tyranny. Todays assassination should come as no shock at all. I doubt that Benazir Bhutto would be shocked at todays events. Unlike many so-called leaders she was willing to risk her life to help her people. While other so-called leaders make lofty pronouncements on how we will fight this or that, she went into the den of thieves herself, knowing how long the odds were. In the poem Beowulf, not the stupid movie, the hero, after many years is faced with having to defend his people again. Even though he has many warriors with him, all abandon him to face the evil alone. He too dies, but in his death a legend is born.

There are many powerful warriors in this world, who day by day stand by and do nothing while evil is left to foment. We will stick with Musharef because we, above all, want stability, failing to realize that he offers nothing of the kind. Strongmen are not strong. Nations that need strongmen are weaklings wallowing in turmoil, on the edge of anarchy, revolution, or oblivion. I would cast off this military tyrant. Better to be rid of him than stupidly cling to him hoping for the best.

Yet even with todays tragedy we must not falter. Human beings have seen so much tragedy and will continue to see such days. We will go on and things will get better. In the darkest days of WWI or WWII things seemed mighty bleak, with body counts in the tens of thousands a month coming to our papers and rumors of extermination camps or mass gas attacks in the trenches, and oddly shaped mushroom clouds over irradiated cities. But we muddled through and will continue. We are a tough lot, human beings, we will come through all the trials and tribulations.

In ten thousand years we will be facing other problems, and tragedy and triumphs. We will still be muddling through then too.

More of my plea to you to give Obama a chance

Lets talk qualifications. I know that the political hacks would like you to think Obama is a light weight. Let us see how much of a light weight he is:

Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a former goat herder and lady from Kansas who both met at the University of Hawaii. His father and mother divorced and his father went to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies, then returned to Kenya, where he died in an auto accident when the younger Obama was twenty-one years old. I know this is not qualifications but a bit of human interest.

Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.

Remembering the values of empathy and service that his mother taught him, Barack put law school and corporate life on hold after college and moved to Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.

He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach constitutional law. Finally, his advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate, where he served for eight years. In 2004, he became the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

This is not the life of a light weight. Bush had the life of a light weight.

Let us now look at the life of Rudy:

Rudy was born in 1944. His father was not a former goat herder nor did his father got to Harvard. Harold Giuliani had trouble holding a job and had been convicted of felony assault and robbery and served time in Sing Sing: after his release he served as a Mafia enforcer for his brother-in-law Leo D'Avanzo, who ran an organized crime operation involved in loan sharking and gambling at a restaurant in Brooklyn.

Rudy Giuliani started his political life as a Democrat. He has said that he admired the Kennedy family, and volunteered for Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968. He also worked as a Democratic party committeeman on Long Island in the mid-1960s, and voted for George McGovern for president in 1972.

His war service: Giuliani did not serve in the military during the Vietnam War. He applied for a deferment but was rejected. In 1969, MacMahon college wrote a letter to Giuliani's draft board, asking that he be reclassified as 2-A, civilian occupation deferment, because Giuliani, who was a law clerk for MacMahon, was an essential employee. He received a student deferment, like Bush, Chenney and all the others guys who were too busy to fight.

How about his conservative credentials: Giuliani's mother maintained in 1988 that, "He only became a Republican after he began to get all these jobs from them. He's definitely not a conservative Republican. He thinks he is, but he isn't. He still feels very sorry for the poor."

Politically Incorrect Santa 2007

Ho Ho Ho!

Well boys and girls it is time for me to get in my slay and travel hither and thither to give out loot to you all. My slay is not a user of petrochemicals either. Heads up for reindeer poop though. So what do I say to you this year?

You people continue to astonish me. The world is so screwed up and still you want me to give you stuff. Well I admire the pugnacious attitude of entitlement you all seem to be born with. So I will auger in and send you what I can.

Can I ask for something too? Santa is not supposed to ask for anything. I guess I am sick of being the "HO" in HO HO HO. I was looking at all the fat old guys that play me on tv or in the shopping malls. I'd really like them all to loose about 20 pounds. No reason to die of hypertension while pretending to be me. I am so old that I sometimes forget what I was like when I was alive.

I'm Greek you know. I was born in Patara in the 3rd century. Since Patara is in Turkey I guess I am sort of a Grecian~Turk. My mother and father both died in an epidemic. After that I sold what I had and became a priest. I eventually was made the bishop of Myra.

Then the Roman Emperor Diocletian came to power and we Christians were hunted down and either imprisoned and tortured or killed outright. I was picked up by the Romans and imprisoned for a time, along with most of the other bishops. I did not have much fun being tortured by the Romans either. Then Diocletian died and eventually I got out and in AD 325 attended the Council of Nicaea. I died in AD 343.

Of course being a Saint I could not just lounge about being dead. They opened up my coffin and found it to be full of juices; yes I know the "yuck" factor is pretty high. But they thought the stuff had healing powers. Sorry but drinking gunk from a coffin is not something I would do but then again I am dead.

Anyhow after a terrible long count of years here I am all fat and white. I'd like to see some swarthy Turk sitting on a chair in a mall in middle America getting his picture taken with the little kids.

I know I look sort of Talibanish and would probably have homeland security after my ass should I show up in a mall dressed like this but some times I just gotta be ME.

Merry Christmas

Neogiating with terrorists...

President Ronald Reagen covertly approved of the sale of American-made BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) anti-tank missiles to Iran in exchange for 9 hostages held in Lebanon. One hostage was released.

After a botched delivery of HAWK missiles, and a disastrous London meeting between Robert McFarlane and Iranian arms broker Ghorbanifar (at which Ghorbanifar threatened his American interlocutor by saying that there would be "fire back on your interests"), Arrow Air Flight 1285, a plane containing nearly 250 American servicemen, crashed in Newfoundland on December 12, 1985. On the day of the crash, responsibility was claimed by Islamic Jihad.

Robert McFarlane resigned in December 1985. He was replaced by Admiral John Poindexter (recently a member of the Bush Administration). On the day of McFarlane's resignation, Oliver North(A FOX NEWS contributor), a military aide to the United States National Security Council (NSC), proposed a new plan for selling arms to Iran. This time, there were two new ideas. Instead of selling arms through Israel, the sale was to be direct. Second, the proceeds from the sale would go to the Contras at a markup. Oliver North wanted a $15 million markup, while contracted Iranian arms broker Manucher Ghorbanifar added a 41% markup of his own. Other members of the NSC were in favor of North's plan. John Poindexter authorized the plan, and it went into effect.

At first, the Iranians refused to buy the arms at the inflated price because of the excessive markup imposed by North and Ghorbanifar. In February 1986, 1000 TOW missiles were shipped to Iran. From May to November 1986, there were additional shipments of miscellaneous weapons and parts.

In September of 1985 1 more hostage was released. Then 3 more Americans were taken to replace him.

So what happened to the money from the sale of all those missiles to Iran? The money funded insurgents in Nicaragua. A paramilitary organization that the people of the United States had forbidden the executive to help.

After the Press had done its job, and Congress begrudgingly limped along the facts came out.

Domestically, the scandal tarnished President Reagan's popularity as his approval ratings saw "the largest single drop for any U.S. president in history", from 67% to 46% in November 1986, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll Reagan survived the scandal however and by December 1988 Gallup poll "recording a 63% approval rating."

The 250 US service personal are still dead. My fifth grade friend among them. Reagans botched backroom dealing with terrorists killed them. And his sending Marines to Beriut Lebanon got 256 of them blown up by a suicide bomber in the largest terrorist attack on Americans to that date. To get the bad guys back we shelled the hills outside the city from an old WWII battleship. They made big creators but didn't do much more. To me Reagan is a sham. His legacy is a sham. The Germans knocked down the Berlin wall, not Reagan. And the Russians took down the Communists not Reagan. His is a legacy of fraud.

The Review of I Am Legend

Did you ever see the movie "Robinson Crusoe on Mars"? In this movie an astronaut crashes on Mars and spend years alone trying to survive. Every once in a while flying saucers come by but they only are in the sky. Then he meets this Indian-type alien and they go up north. Then the production company saw the bill and decided that they had to end the movie really quick so the did. The whole movie is kind of neat but the end is like watching the build up to the last battle of Star Wars to cut from the X-wings leaving Yavin to the end credits. "What the?" is all that can be said.

So it is for this movie. I liked it all the way up until the end. I know the story ends with the main character having a terminal moment. However they had already taken liberties with this story so they could have taken some more.

1: Vampire dude seemed to want his woman back. This was never clarified.
2: Vampire dude seemed to want to hunt Neville like Neville hunted him. This was not really explored.
3: Lady-Vamp gets cured only to be blown to bits. This was stupid.
4: "Hide in this furnace duct until I blow myself up." This was not the line but the how the lady and her son got off the island, with the bridges blown up and tunnels flooded, is never explored either. for that matter how did the lady and her son end up on Manhattan? Since the bridges were blown and tunnels flooded?

If you want to see I am Legend, at least a better version go and rent "28 Days Later". It is a much better tale told in a more authentic way.

Why do we like thinking about being stuck after the Apocalypse? I love these types of movies since it brings for a pioneering spirit. How would I survive in such times? It is too bad that all such stories have to revolve around monsters and zombies, mutants, or other such creepy crawlies. Someone should do a film in a less b-movie format where people actually have to face such a life without the creeps. I think it might actually be worse since, at the very least, the mutants ad some adventure.

This flick gets a solid, mushy 5

My thoughts on campaign 2008...so far...

After many a month of ridiculous media hype the actual election year of 2008 is finally going to materialize. If you listened to the TV you would think that 2008 was already here. After watching CNN I kept wanting to write 08' on my checks.

But now there is less than 30 days until next year. So I will now start to blog about what I think should happen. Who I think should be President.

There is no doubt in my mind as of today. Barack Obama is the man for the Job. He is the only candidate that clearly speaks upon issues in a way I agree with. He is a good talker too. The idea that he is too young is nonsense. I remember one young man who saved the world from nuclear war before he got killed. As for being a black guy. Only the KKK should give a damn about that in this day and age. Who cares. I'd vote for him if he was purple.

The other candidates of note, Clinton, Edwards, Biden, etc are either too scripted or careful, or polished or just too dull. Except for Chris Dodd. I like Dodd too. But he is too old school and we need some real leadership and a fresh perspective. Obama is going to do that.

Obama is going to be a very good President and, so far, I will enjoy casting my vote for him.

Review of Beowulf

For at least 1300 years people have been thrilled with the retelling of the deeds of Beowulf. Then Robert Zemekis, a man I had really thought highly of, decided that all those 1300 years of story telling was wrong and he would set things right...

To paraphrase the great poet Seamus Heaney's retelling of Beowulf..I will now release my word-hord.

This movie is awful from the begining until the end. If this was the basis for the story of Beowulf then the story would have died a justifiable death long ago, along with all the other heavey handed piles of dung spewed out pie holes of many a bad author.

"I am BEOWULF!!! I have come to kill you monster!!!" the cockney english taxi driver bellows at the poorly rendered 3D characters around him. Compare this stupid, low brow idiocy with how Beowulf meets Hrothgar in the poem

"The man whose name was known for courage
the Geat leader, resolute in his helmet,
answered in return: "We are retainers
from Hygelac's band. Beowulf is my name.
If your lord and master, the most renowned
son of Halfdane, will hear me out
and graciously allow me to greet him in person,
I am ready and willing to report my errand."


This movie mercilessly destroys the poetry and drama of the greatest story to come out of Anglo Saxon England and does it in about 2 hours. The 3d graphics are poorly done, the main characters were done decently enough, but the secondary characters were done not much better than a video game. Golem, the bar for personal 3d characters, was not even approached. They all seemed weightless and puppet like.

The acting was god awuful too. The choice for Beowulf was pathetic. Not that I have anything against a good cockney accent, but not for Beowulf!!!!!! I am not sure what made the acting seem soooooo bad? I think it was a combination of the afore mentioned crappy CGI and bad choice for a lead.

The worst part of this Grendel-like abomination was the tossing of the old story onto the scrap pile. Why Hollywood idiots think they can change stuff like this for the better is beyond me. It is like changing the Passion of Christ, by adding in a back story how Judas was Jesus brother and was taken away to be raised by anti-christian wood elves.

I guess the shallow headed trogs of hollywood felt that more exposition was needed to justify Grendels actions. And the story only got worse as it went on. The faux dragon, as the son of Beowulf was just silly looking. I am really bashing this movie. Sorry about that. If you want to read the story please pick up a copy of Seamus Heany's translation. It is exiting, a quick read, and everything the movie is not.

I give this movie a 2

Review of Extended The Lord of the Rings "Fellowship"

After sitting through the additional footage I can now review this treasured movie. The original cut was the best. The extended movie adds a fair amount of clunkiness to the story and tips the hand of the story teller too much. The editor really helped in the presentation of the theatrical release. Performances gained power and the story gained mystery with the loss of the extra footage. Good editors ROCK!

Still if you like to see a realllllllly looooooong movie then this is for you. At 208 minutes this behemoth is the cave troll of movies. If you have never seen LOTR Fellowship please watch the original cut first. It is way better. Then go for the extended movie and see the extra bits and you will see what I mean. Lots of info is added up front and some back story is explained but therein lies the problem. Too much exposition. Less is more and more is usually less.

Best additional footage: none really, it all just detracts from the story and really hurts the pacing. This movie would not have been as well recieved if it had been shown with all this extra stuff put in.

This extended movie gets a 6 of of 10.

News from the front...

Today some of the colonists who attend the College of William and Mary started a fraternal organization called Phi Beta Kapa. The American colonies are quite peculiar in their insistance on what amounts to public education. Why some one from the lower classes should want to waste time at University is beyond imagination. All the Americans have to show for all the lower class learning is the highest literacy rate in the world.

This is very dangerous since part of maintaining social order is the control of information. To have too many people be able to read is a danger to the natural order of things. Ergo the current war and spread of democratic terrorists.

News from the war...

This photo was taken from one of our BBC embedded reporters of the 43rd regiment outside New York after forcing the insurgent to flee to White Plains.

After six weeks of offloading new troops the surge is now in place to deal with the problems associated with the rebellious and insurgent paramilitaries in America. The total number of troops is now over 32,000.

The battle was intense and the American insurgents were outmaneuvered and out fought by our heroic soldiers who are trying to save America from anarchy. The rebel leader, Washington, was forced to flee in the face of our advance. General Howe is now in command of New York City and has detachments in hot pursuit of Washington and his ragtag band of terrorists. We did suffer casualties when our gallent men were viciously attacked by thugs led by another rebel leader named Knowlton.

The surge is working! After the disaster of having to leave Boston to the insurgents in 1775, we now have a strong presense in America and it is only a matter of time now until the insurgents realise that resistance is useless.

The stallwart citizens of New York are pleased that red coats now patrol their streets.

Of for crying out loud, not those guys again...

Yes back for the Holidays! Its the worst of all worlds. Take an Alien and cross it with a Predator and you get this slimy bastard. I thought Hollywood couldn't think up any more wholesome Christmas stories. Well I am glad to be proved wrong. I will pre-review this film since I have seen a cut of it and here goes...

Yuck!

Can't these insipid beasts bother some other planet? Why is Earth the Mecca for all the shitty evil creatures in the Universe? In Alien vs Predator the Earth was just a nice backwater to allow the Predator Aliens to kill the Alien Aliens. Now they are back and the humans just get in the way again. I'd like to see something other than the same old BS that I have seen a million times before from both these creatures. If they can't do that then the movie makers should stop wasting time on them.
Here is the link to AVP-R for what it is worth

Fort Rock and Molokini

Fort Rock is a semi-circular ring of stone in the middle of the Oregon desert. Molokini is in the tropic of Cancer off the coast of Maui, Hawaii. They actually have a lot in common. They are both extinct volcanoes and both were sculpted by water. Fort Rock, like Molokini, was once and island in the middle of a large Pleistocene lake. Unlike Molokini, Fort Rock was inhabited. The oldest shoes in North America were discovered there, laying in a cave. They are 9000 years old.

Scott McClellan blames Bush and Rove!

Scott McClellan - Former White House Press Secretary:

"I stood at the White House briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby," McClellan, 39, wrote. "There was one problem. It was not true."

McClellan wrote that he "unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff, and the president himself."

- This first appeared 1 hour ago on the Bloomberg News Service

Oregon on the cutting edge again

The big medical story this week is of the cloned monkey cells done a the Oregon Primate Center. This is not the story I will be talking about...

The neat looking graphic above is a CGI image of Adenovirus-14. According to the CDC there are lots of adenovirus types out there and most are pretty harmless unless you are really young or really old or have a problem with your immune system like you have HIV or something.

What makes Adenovirus-14 interesting is that this strain attacks healthy adults and puts them in the hospital with pneumonia. It is basically a cold bug and is transmitted the same way, by touch or in by inhaling an infected persons cough. You catch a cold and instead of sneezing and taking a day off work to watch Perry Mason you may end up in the ICU or even the morgue.

Why should Oregonians worry about Adenovirus-14? Below is an excerpt from a Medpage Article from today.

"ATLANTA, Nov. 16 -- Clinicians should keep their eyes peeled for a mutated form of adenovirus 14 that has caused at least 10 deaths, most of them among adults, the CDC warned."

"The new strain of adenovirus 14 differs in that most of its victims have been otherwise healthy adults, CDC officials said.

"What really got people's attention is these are healthy young adults landing in the hospital and, in some cases, the ICU," said John Su, M.D., Ph.D., of the CDC. "

"The deadliest outbreak, identified retrospectively, occurred in Oregon, after a local clinician reported multiple patients admitted to a single hospital for pneumonia over a five-week period in March and April.

Of the 17 specimens obtained, 15 were positive for adenovirus 14, the CDC said, leading Oregon public health authorities to review records from virology labs and find 68 people who tested positive between Nov. 1, 2006, and April 30, 2007. "


This is a Bar of Soap. USE IT!!

WW IV

WW IV smoldered to life in the mid 1980's during WW III (the cold war). Like a forest fire that lingers under the pine needles and sod, it was invisible. It flared up from time to time but did not seem to pose too much of a threat.

Since September 11th we are all much more alarmed. Our stupid reactions and completely inadequate responses to this conflagration have only allowed it to spread. With no containment strategy it is crackling out from hot spots and is much more of a threat now.

To a large extent Bush and his failed policies has been responsible for the severity of WW IV. The situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran, in Darfur and now Turkey, is totally going the wrong way. Make no mistake, this is a HOT war. The lives of hundreds of millions hang in the balance. And I fear that we have stumbled so badly in its beginning that by the time it is over many of the millions of lives will be lost. Each great war starts differently.

We need brilliance in positions of leadership. I see NONE in the current crop of Presidential candidates. They fail to appreciate the magnitude of the war the world is in. The war we helped get going by decades of stupid decisions. Bush is bad since his solutions are simplistic and not based on reality. Yet the next President will be in the same situation as Bush. He or she will be faced with a massive problem, Iraq being only one part, that they cannot ignore. There is no negotiating with this enemy. No councils or ceasefires.

I have no clue how this war will end. I do think that keeping canned food in the car and having an exit strategy on how to get out of town is not a bad idea. WW IV is hotter than the cold WW III. Yet we still have all the nukes. Nobody should be so naive as to think the use of nuclear weapons, by the US or other nations, or entities, is beyond consideration.

I have read the Candidates positions, such as they are, and none of them, Democrat of Republican really seems to have a clue as to what to do about anything. They are so busy beating up on each other, trying to appease one core constituency or another that they seem stuck in sloganeering and broad generalities so milky, and opaque as to be useless. How can American voters know who to vote for? Judging by the candidates, their misinformation, lies, and insane positions, I would have to say put all the names in a hat and pick one. Then vote for that person.

Having said all this I would argue that a Democratic President, based on what is coming out of the mouths of all candidates, will be slightly less pathetic than a Republican President. It is not that the Republican candidates are really bad, it is just that the groups that they have to appease are basically just this side of the mentally ill (no offense meant to those who are mentally ill.)

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Federalist and Democrat talking on Church and State

I know the current crop of Christian fanatics would like us all to think that the founders of our Great Republic were bible wielding hyper-Christians but...

John Adams (The Federalist) "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."

Thomas Jefferson (The Democrat) "The authors of the gospels were unlettered and ignorant men and the teachings of Jesus have come to us mutilated, misstated and unintelligible."

John Adams "I had forgotten the custom of putting Prophets in the Stocks....It may be thought impiety by many, but I could not help wishing that the ancient practice had been continued down to more modern times and that all the Prophets at least from Peter the Hermit, to Nimrod Hews inclusively, had been confined in the Stocks and prevented from spreading so many delusions and shedding so much blood."

Thomas Jefferson "If the freedom of religion, guaranteed to us by law in theory, can ever rise in practice under the overbearing inquisition of public opinion, then and only then will truth, prevail over fanaticism."

John Adams "We have now, it seems a National Bible Society, to propagate King James's Bible, through all Nations. Would it not be better, to apply these pious Subscriptions, to purify Christendom from the Corruptions of Christianity; than to propagate those Corruptions in Europe Asia, Africa and America!"

Our loyal Allies!

“The days of looking the other way while despotic regimes trample human rights, rob their nations' wealth, and then excuse their failings by feeding their people a steady diet of anti-Western hatred are over.” -Dick Cheney

Of course, that is, unless you are a buddy of the VP then go ahead, suspend you nations constitution, beat up protestors, and jail and torture your political rivals. As long as it is all for a good cause.

If you get into the toilet do not be surprised if you end up covered in shit. With Pakistan we have not only armed a man as tyrannical as Saddam, but also stood by and done nothing while he tramples his own people. The policy of back military strong men always leads to the same future. Mainly revolution, civil war, and mass death. Saddam was armed and helped when he suited our purposes, just like Musharref is today. There is really no difference. These men foment radicalism as a response to their tyrany. They use the existance of radicals on the edges, whether is in the mountains of Pakistan or the northern regions of Iraq, as a tool to continue to practice their thuggery.

In some ways Bush uses the same concept. He uses the existance of radicals on the edges to excuse his thuggery here.

How are things going? We are still at war right???

As usual I have to get my info from the BBC since our news organizations cannot seem to bother with our war. The above photo was snapped a couple days ago by a BBC embedded news team on patrol with the 101st Airborne. Note words etched in the ceiling of the humvee. "Never Going Home"

These soldiers were all on their third tour. This one lasting 15 months. Soldiers seem frustrated that their fellow countrymen do not seem to know about what is going on in Iraq.

Below is the "important news of America"

CNN-
Four charred bodies found in blaze area 9 min
Fire wipes out mobile home park
Innocent man shares his 22-year prison struggle
Fliers: $$$ seats on superjumbo jet worth it Video
Boy, 7, loses leg, but not football dreams Video
Witness: Diana spoke as she lay dying
'Genocide' resolution shelved
Ticker: Clinton throws glitzy $1M birthday bash
Dogs kill Make-a-Wish horse Video
Britney Spears avoids hit-and-run trial
Collapsing hill reveals Stone-Age secrets Video

FOXNEWS-
Arrest in Hero grave desecration
Half of Americans believe in ESP
4 students shot at Michigan school
Monkeys making lewd gestures at Women

Another winner in Iraq! Thanks Bush!

I am tired of all the bad news coming out of Iraq so I am only going to concentrate on the good things!

Not all are suffering in Iraq. Some groups are having a hey day, of sorts. The PKK, Kurdistan Workers party is having fun attempting to carve off part of Turkey and Iraq, and form an independent state of Kurdistan. Of course Turkey has sworn to go to war to stop them, but they probably wont. Who would be stupid enough to take action in Iraq?

Dozens were killed today in a cross border attack launched by the PKK into Turkey. I wonder what we would do if such a strike were launched at America and twelve US soldiers died? Hmmm? We'd probably calmly sort it all out...NOT! Yet this is what we are asking the Turks to do. Stay calm you Turkish people. Don't go off half cocked; that is America's job. If anyone is going to launch a military strike it will be US!


Perhaps we should talk to the Cambodians...er I mean the Turks...and explain that we do not want the Vietnam war...er the Iraq war...to spread into their nation since it might make the Khmer Rouge...I mean Islamic radicals...take power. Thus setting the stage for further Southeast Asian...sorry...Middleastern destabilisation and war.

Or maybe Nixon...sorry again...Bush will authorize bombing of Cambodian...er Turkish.. Villages in a lame attempt to squash the PKK?

So there is all the happy news from the "stable and safe" northern section of Iraq. At least there is no Bin Laden types up there. Only communists.

Arr!

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The Down in the Hold!

Who will speak for you?

First they outsourced the toy manufacturers
and I said nothing
Then the garment workers
and I said nothing
They outsourced the steel workers
and I said nothing
Then they outsourced the auto workers
and I said nothing
Then the electonics workers
and I said nothing
They sent the finance jobs, the ship building jobs, and all manner of skilled labor away.
and I said nothing
Then they outsourced my job
and everyone was too busy working overtime at Walmart to speak for me.

UNIONIZE!
And never, ever, shut your mouth!

Civitas Dei

"God of State" was quite popular in the middle ages. This single concept, in the long run, has done more harm to the cause of Christ than almost anything else. For the very concept of a God-State link reduces the Almighty to the rank of mere instrument of state control. If you look at the results of Civitas Dei in Europe today you see a land full of sumptuous churches and cathedrals where few actually go to church. On the contrary where you see God apart from the state you see little churches bursting at the seems. If there is a heresy to fight against it would be the very notion of linking God with any earthly human construct. States have no souls, or spirit. There are no country's that are Christian. There may be Christians living in them, but each persons soul is his or her own.

To serve the state is not to serve God, since the latter needs no service. We should never fall into the temptation to think that God needs us. Very great evil comes from this way of thinking. We are the needy ones, not God. No human is placed in domination over another because God decided so. He gave us free will to dominate or not. Kings and Queens are made so because their parents were kings and queens before them. Presidents are made so by the will of the republic and their own desires to be in office. And rulers are tossed off the top by various tools of fate.

I do not pretend to speak for God. How can I do that? I occupy a tiny blue speck that orbits a tiny yellow speck, itself lost in a haze of billions of other such specks. However I can think rationally and can deduce from my relative tiny self that I lack the perspective to understand an entity that could bring about the totality of existance. We can barely make it through a day here on our speck, let alone figure out the wishes of God.

So do we sit in a self centered stupor? No we should love our neighbors as ourselves and treat others the way we wish to be treated. To be just within our power to be just, and merciful within our power for mercy. And refrain from thinking any of us can speak for God. We can only speak for ourselves.

Albert the Great!

We all share this little rock in space and we all need to work together to keep from fouling the nest. The Earth does not care if you believe in Gore's message or not. We either suck it up, and act like we have balls, and save ourselves or mother nature, that cruel beast, will let us die off and replace us with something else. Cheers Mr Gore!

Now we all need to take a page or two from Mr. Gore's play-book. Not the climate change play-book, but the life play-book. Al Gore, like James Carter before him, lost an election, turned right around, and decided to change the world anyway. These guys are real Americans. Smart people tend to have happier and better lives than dunces. I am not talking about money either. Look at Spears or Paris Hilton, or Bush. Lots of doe and little brains are a disaster waiting to happen. Idiots with lots of cash tend to leave a trail of tears behind them.

But people like Gore and Carter, fly above the slime that catches the rest. It is not as if these guys are saints. Neither one has a halo growing out of his head. But they can get up there because they have the right stuff. And what is the right stuff? It is certainly not political power, money, or influence. Lots of people have that and are fatally mired in the slime pit. I think it is that these men and others like them, have caught hold of the fleeting tendrils of righteousness. To catch hold of righteousness is to surrender to it. Right action can never be made to bend to the desires of he or she that takes a hold of it. On the contrary to do what is right puts you into it's service.

Will Gore save the world, or mankind? Who can say. But I do know that he using his existence to further the cause of human life on Earth. He is not the first to do this, nor will he be the last. However he will be counted on the positive side of humanities balance sheet. While others of his generation will slip off the bottom into a bottomless sea of red ink.

Can this happen again!?!?! Are we at risk!?!?!? Panic!!!!!

One great sin of those who read up on the past is "smugness". It is a sin that is hard to avoid. This trap is laid for us who study the past, by the shear size of historical ignorance. Simply put so many people know so little about the past that, to people who know even a little, they seem suffering from some form of mental limitation. Hence smugness comes to fruition in the historian. Nobody likes a no-it-all, but these days a more accurate way of describing what people do not like is to say that nobody likes a person who knows anything. To show knowledge of anything makes you seem part of the dreaded intelligentsia.

People who know stuff go out of their way to act stupid and ignorant lest people find out that they actually might know something. Our President, a person who knows little, has this down pat. He actually goes out of his way to act stupider than he is since this endears him to the stupid people who support him.

Then there are all those milky, limp, country songs sung but bar stool warming rednecks "who don't know the difference between Iraq and Iran". Well I am sure that many of them know NOW! Nothing like three tours in the desert to educate you.

The book above is a great book on the Pestilence, Black Death, Plague, Great Mortality, Big Death, of the middle of the 14th century. I have read lots on this period and one cool thing that comes through is that it is highly unlikely that this beast will ever treat us so badly. We are simply not in the same spot as the starving, filth, people of the past. Unfortunately the past also shows that the circumstances surrounding nasty events such as the Black Death are so numerous and intertwined that such a catastrophe, albeit not from the plaque, could well happen to us modern people.

In terms of naturally occurring diseases, and man made climatic problems, ignorance is NOT bliss. Even when faced with the event itself incomplete knowledge is not much different that mystical mumbo jumbo. The plague not only decimated ignorant Europe, but also the enlightened Islamic middle easterners, the Mongol Empire, they wealthy Indian kingdoms, and South East Asia. Humans lacked the concept of germs. The best anyone could muster was to rely on two thousand year old Greek ideas of the four humors being out of alignment due to planets, stars, and winds.

Today we are better off and, some some ways, not much different than those unfortunate ancients. We know about disease, but climatic change, and how we can slow it or stop it, is beyond us. Many still don't even believe it is happening. The best scientists know it is happening, know it to be human caused, but are still at a loss to stop it.

When the plague hit Europe for the third time in the 17th century, people finally made the connection between the fleas on the rats and people getting sick. But even then, when they knew the mode of disease transmission they were at a loss to really know how to stop it. And the idea of germs was still more than a century off.

With climate change we may not have time, or the skills needed, to really avert the coming disaster. The best thing we can do is get smart, and not admire idiots.

Childrens healthcare? Not if Idiot can help it.

The latest stench to waft up from the pit at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is the veto of the expansion of federal health care coverage for kids. Why? Because as the President himself said it would begin to federalize health care and it would include that horrible section of the public, the dreaded middle class! All real republicans hate the middle class. They feel programs that help the poor alone are easier to kill off when they want to start a stupid insane war or two...or three. To allow "program creep" to begin to help the middle class means it would be a lot harder for them to kill it off. Look at Social Security! Give the middle class an inch and they will take a mile. Better keep them pissed off at the poor people.

The president (small P because this miscreant is worth nothing more) continues to be a national embarrassment. I wonder now how many so-called patriotic republicans will thwart the will of this modern George III? Who will stand against this tyrant? Who has the balls? If this were 1776 Georgy would be tarred and feathered as the dandified Tory he truly is.

Who are our enemies?

Today outgoing general Peter Pace said that we are being made war on and we must fight our enemies. But who are they? I am sure he was referring to Iraq. As I recall Iraq did not make war on us. We made war on them. I guess Tojo or Hitler could use Pace's argument to justify their wars against the US too. After all the US was fighting them both. So using Pace's argument they HAVE to continue their war against us since we are resisting them.

This whole war bull shit is really pissing me off. Who is it that attacked us on September 11th 2001? Are we so mindless as to have forgotten? Nobody in Iraq did it. Nobody in Iran did it either. Who attacked us? Who, by their actions, declared war on us? Some religious and cultural extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The enemy, back then, was tiny. They counted on Bush's over reaction squad to help them along in their recruiting more people to their cause and Bush has not disappointed them. They correctly guessed that Bush would launch a war in the middle east, all while leaving the real enemy alone in the mountains of Pakistan.

This provided them with a way to kill US troops, die for their cause, and recruit more who are will to do the same. It is like Bush is in collusion with the bad guys. When Pace says we are at war I say back to him "No shit!"

However the average American, told to ignore the facts on the ground, is pretty much oblivious to who are enemy is. Killing any Muslim or Arab seems okay to many Americans. Since our government has not bothered to put the laser on the target we are left to assume that all of Islam and the "Arabs" must be the villain. Since the actions of the President seem to bare this simpleminded approach out, I really fear for what we will end up doing to keep from losing this war. Since it is not the war that was forced upon us.

I want to make this clear. We were made war upon on Sept 11th. And then we went and started a whole other war, tangentially connected to our enemy, but only making them stronger while weakening our own position. Our enemy leaders are still very much alive and in the act of making war upon us. And our entire army is busy, not killing them, but wasting time, men and material in helping them justify their war.

If we do not wake up and start making war upon those who are making war on us then we deserve to get wasted. Iraq is already a gigantic strategic failure. Our "surge" has only reduced the death rate back to where it was in 2006. And the surge cannot last. We took a situation where a small spark declared war on us and decided that the best thing to do was to poor a barrel of gasoline on it. Now things are worse. Much worse.

All because we didn't calm down and patiently decide who the enemy really was. Bush is a disaster. This is not a liberal, or conservative talking, since those people are pretty much all losers too, this is an American talking. All Americans really want is someone not to fuck stuff up. Keep your ideology out of my army and out of my pants.