Saturday, October 11, 2003

So many outrages, so little blog

Notwithstanding the title of this weblog, All That Arises, I'm trying to limit my posts to comments upon Bush's warmongering. There's surely plenty to write about on that subject. But that doesn't mean I'm not also enraged at the other manifestations of his madness, such as fostering commercial exploitation of endangered species and monitoring the Internet. In fact, it seems like Bush is going out of his way--in some demented expression of gratuitous fascism--to despoil our planet and destroy our freedoms.
But, as I said, I'm trying to keep my posts limited to his warmongering, so I won't say anymore about the maniac's other mania. Unless...

Now wait a goddam minute

Our soldiers, behind the wheels of bulldozers and to the amplified sound of jazz music, are ripping out Iraqis' orchards? Isn't this the same despicable conduct that Israel engages in?
If ever there was doubt that we are an occupying army--not a whit different from Nazis in Belgium in 1943--this report must dispel it.
Will we read about it in the American press? Let's just wait and see.

Robertson's nuke comment

Pat Robertson is crazy, has been for years. I mean he's really insane. The question is why he hasn't been arrested so he can get a little court-mandated treatment. Dissent and free speech are vital, but nobody has the right to advocate the violent overthrow of the government using weapons of mass destruction, resulting in incalculable devastation. Scary!Salon.com News

Phases of the Moon

Thanks for sharing the piece about the moon, Erik. I noticed it rising as I was driving home this evening, big and pale orange. This time of year, it seems to rise from Lake Casitas, reminding me of happy times fishing there with my Dad and our dogs. Anyway, it was the harvest moon, alright. I checked the Navy's moon phase calendar, and it was full a little under two hours ago.

This is my favorite time of year, the days growing shorter, more contemplative, but not yet the crisp, bluewhite elegy of winter.
Phases of the Moon

Rebel Without Applause

In the past two months, Erik and I have had a string of e-mails from a person who disagreed with us, and from her posse. See “Dear Persons …” on 10/6/03, below. We declined to post her opinions, then changed our minds, as Erik explained on 10/6. We also have opinions. We posted hers, we posted ours. But we are still hearing from her, now through her sister, demanding that we explain ourselves. I thought Erik did a great job of that on Monday.

Apparently, they expected we would post Kerry's opinions, and not post our own. This is getting weird. And ever the fan of the absurd, I thought I’d play Kafka and share it with our friends. Take it to the people, in the spirit of our new governor-elect. My thoughts:

• It's our personal blog - we get to put stuff on it. And decide what goes up.

• If you want to know why we disagreed, read our blog. That's what it's for.

• I never understood why Kerry wanted to be on our Web site in the first place. She's not going to change our minds about that prevaricating pretender in the White House or his flying monkeys. I don't mean that in a bad way. I say it with all due respect.

• I don't know how many people are reading our site, but I think it's basically just our friends and relatives. A few random surfers. If Kerry thinks she’s getting her opinion out to a big audience on All That Arises, she’s mistaken. Our readers are few, but we love them. Saying so probably won’t get me a beer, but it’s worth a try.

• What’s most bizarre, why does Kerry care what we think about her opinions? Why are our opinions of her opinions of any value to her at all? She obviously has no respect for us or our thoughts, and we’ve been clear the feeling is mutual.

• As I've told Kerry three times now, she can get her own free blog. On every blog, you will find a link that takes you to the company that hosts it. Click it, and go and sign up and Viola! You're a published Internet writer just like us. It's easy.

• Or you can send your opinions to the newspaper, or cnn.com, or time.com, or www.whitehouse.gov. Be creative. Hey, I'll bet Rush Limbaugh would love to get letters in rehab.

• Now that we have this person’s problem solved, I don't seen any need for her and her sister, their mother and friends to write to us anymore. They don't need us to get published. And I don't think we're gonna be friends and go our for coffee and stuff. So it's better if we just break this off now. Don't feel bad, it's not you, it's us. We just can’t make the commitment to a protracted dialog with fascism incarnate right now. Another blog will come along and make you all forget all about our little personal web site. Thanks for understanding. Be happy, and have a good life.

• BUSH LIED, PEOPLE DIED!


Friday, October 10, 2003

Hunters' Moon

As I was surfing the Internet, which is a thing I do as a normal, early 2000's person in America, I stumbled on this series of definitions of the various full moons we observe during the year. I highly recommend you go there, and read the deeply-moving descriptions of what our forebearers knew and felt--and reckoned--as each moon moved through their lives.
Did they concern themselves with which football team was number one, or which Nascar driver was in the lead? Did they await the arrival of the NYT on their doorstep or the latest stock market report? I think not. They lived lives so much truer to truth than we. Could we ever go there again, as a race, as a culture, as a world?
No.

Don't look now

Don't look now, but apparently America is circling the drain, overdue for a head-on collision with apocalypse. This according to some folks in the UK.

Hey hosers, let all like move to Canada, eh. I like Moosehead and back bacon, ya know. Time to take off, hosers, for the land of comped medical and no Mexican food.

Rumsfeld on the run

Condoleezza Rice has stolen Rumsfeld's comfy chair at the head of the Iraq restoration table. He so wants to avoid the issue, he's apparently staying in his room to cry into his pillow. I have a hunch things will be tense at the neocon haloween party this year. I'm guessing Rice will go as Joan of Arc, Rumsfeld as Alfred E. Newman. Looks like Rumsfeld, doesn't he?
CNN.com - Rumsfeld avoids questions on Iraq role - Oct. 9, 2003

Thursday, October 09, 2003

Justin's Waffle

Check out Justin's Waffle, a blog at justinalexander.net. He's a young British consultant with Jubilee Iraq in Baghdad. He comes recommended by Riverbend, and rightly so.

Here's a sample, which I rather enjoyed:

"Met with the Kurdish Islamic Party today. They were cute. Some people might assume they would be religious fanatics hardened by centuries as an oppressed people without a country of their own. Maybe they are. But they also laugh a lot, particularly at my attempts at Kurdish ... They even had a stack of Pokemon (Japanese childrens cartoon) exercise books for their official notes!"

Troubles in River City

What, I've been wondering, happened to the complaints by Tribune Bremer-appointed Iraq Governing Council's about his awarding reconstruction contracts to American firms, when local firms stood ready to do the work? Well, silly me, I should have known. The same thing that happened to the Council's complaints about training Iraq policemen in Jordan; and the latest outrage, his bringing Turkish troops into Iraq as "peacekeepers."
What happened to these complaints, you ask? They were buried--Bremer refused to allow the Council to publish its complaints about them.

Please, just for a moment, imagine how it felt to be in Vichy France in 1943. The only thing missing is jackboots. But of course we have night-vision goggles.

Arranging deckchairs on the Titanic

Bush's latest manipulation of unreality, the creation of the Iraqi Stabilization Group, to be headed by Condie Rice; and the administration's deluge of speeches touting progress in Iraq, would be comical if it weren't so tragic. As one commentator said, to the claim that Iraqi children were going back to school, "They went to school before we made war on them."

It doesn't get any worse than this

I've blogged chiefly about international outrages of our present administration, but this news item about the barbarity of our criminal law must be revealed. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that it constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment to execute a person who's too crazy to comprehend the nature of his punishment, a lower court in Arkansas has determined that it's legal to inject such a person with drugs in order to make him sane enough to satisfy the sanity test for execution--and then execute him! (The Supreme Court declined to hear the man's appeal.)

Gorby speaks out

Yah know, after the Soviet Union broke up, we ended up with the wrong leader. This guy's right on.

A New NYT Columnist, a laugh a minute

After I read two recent op-eds by David Brooks, I had to check his bio, because I wasn't quite sure if he was serious or a clever satirist of Bush-licking columnists. Perhaps, I thought, the Gray Lady had decided to spread some cheer on its editorial page.
Well, I was wrong. By God, this guy, who's a brand-new addition to the Times, comes straight from The Weekly Standard, and he really means what he says. His piece about Hummers and Harleys is, therefore, even more hilarious; but his latest, about the rosy prospects of the various factions' agreement during the drafting of Iraq's constitution is absolutely side-splitting.
For example, after telling us how well the process is proceeding (BTW, it's not being written yet; all that the Council is considering is how to create a body to draft it) Brooks concedes "gigantic problems remain." Things like the role of religion in government, distributing power among the various factions, little things like that. The biggest laugh, though, is his observation that women might be a bit concerned if the document doesn't address some of the thorny social issues, such as "polygamy and honor killings."
Yeah, if I were an Iraqi woman, I might be concerned too.

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

Let Them Eat War

This essay is the most incisive I've read on the question of why blue-collar males are tending to vote Republican, especially pro-Bush. It posits the concept of the "Nascar Dad," whose long-suffering losses in money, stature and hope have caused the undifferentiated anger that Bush appeals to with his macho imagery, his bullying ways.
I've written the author at the website where the article appears and suggested that the phenomenon she describes has now crossed into the Latino community, as evidenced by its recent pro-Arnold vote, creating a new category of disaffected, angry voters for the far right to exploit, the "Oakland Raider Dad."

We liberals are very slow to learn

Look, my fellow liberal/progressive/Bush-haters, why do you decry the Justice Department's one-day delay in ordering production of the White House records in the Plame-gate case, and, for that matter, the months-long delay in the actions of the White House to track down the leak of Valerie's name to Novak? Why do you rail against the obfuscation of the President's Press Secretary, Scott McClellan; and the obstruction caused by possible White House claims of "executive privilege?" I say, let the rascals have at it--the more delay, denial and obstruction the better.

Remember, please, that the exquisite bliss of Watergate summer was the Chinese water-torture of it. We were treated to months of delight, from Judge Sirica's pronouncements of suspicion, to WaPo's breathless reports, to Sam Ervin's crafty phrases and delicious drawl, to the fabulous daily drip of tapes, to Chairman Rodino's eventual raps of the gavel announcing the articles of impeachment.

So revel in Bush's recalcitrance, celebrate his truculent resistance and nay-saying. This is the stuff of which enduring scandals are made.

Here's how Hitler did it

He controlled the media. Imagine, getting Reuters to run a ten-inch story about how the President plans to present his case for the invasion of Iraq even before he does it. Followed, of course, by days of reports of his doing so.

How can the opposition prevail over that? Will truth prevail? Will justice and right and goodness? If we draw any lesson from this evening's recall election, it is this: No. Resoundingly no.

So why am I now committed to be more strident than ever in my opposition to Der Fuehrer?

Because I must be.

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

Statement by Governor Dean on the Recall

Sorry if I offended anyone with my previous post. I don't retract my remarks, because the election is absurd. But I didn't have to be so frank about it.

Here's what Howard Dean has to say about it; he's much clearer-headed than I am:
Blog for America : Statement by Governor Dean on the California Recall | October 07, 2003

Ritter for President

Please, if you wish to hear a powerful right-on voice on the subject of WMD's, give a listen to this incisive BBC interview with Scott Ritter, a former US military man, formerly a UN weapons inspector in Iraq. This guy's the real thing and his message is strong and sound.

Oh No

A word to anyone surfing by, who voted for Schwartzenegger:

You fools. You ridiculous, asinine fools. You voted for him 'cause he's cool, didn't you, you morons? You voted for him despite his glaring lack of any redeeming qualifications for the job, and utter lack of relevant experience. You voted for him out of anger and ignorance. In fact, you didn't vote for Ahhnold so much as you voted against the recession, and that, you miserable, short-sighted jerks, is bald stupidity.

Well, thanks, you great band of unwashed idiots. Now we've got the government we deserve. And God protect the children of California, because they can't all sell souvenirs at Disneyland.

I'm scared, really scared

The numbers favoring recall and electing Arnold are frightening. A landslide, which the demographers will, I predict, determine cut across ethnic, economic, social lines. Arnold Schwarzenegger (regardless of his beliefs and principles, which are, even now, unknown) carried all facets of California's voting population because he had name recognition and a body of motivated, well-financed supporters.

Does such a scenario call another election to mind, like maybe the 2004 Presidential one? Does Arnold's election presage upcoming campaigns where money and minority motivation translate into skillful and pervasively-presented packaging and resultant victory?

I am now so frightened by the prospect of George Bush winning in 2004 that I am driven to choose. Either I wade in and scream and claw against it; or I resign from the fray and seek refuge in the nation of my forebears (if they'll have me), Sweden.

I'll let you know what I decide when I decide.

Damn it

We've got Bush on the run and now this: Wesley Clark shoots himself in the foot again.

Look, my fellow ABB ("Anybody But Bush") citizens, we've got to get our act together or that idiot/demon/warmonger will win by default, just as he's won everything else he's ever won in his life.

Damn, this irritates me. Makes me want to enter politics just to get a handle on this madness and, for once, do the right thing.

Nevermind. I don't have the stomach or the temperament for it. As someone once told me, "We don't elect the best person President, we elect the best politician."

A Buddhist lawyer (I know, I know--it's a contradiction) offers wisdom

The following principles--so profoundly simple--are to me those to which we must aspire in this very life. My good friend and fellow attorney, Leonard, has reminded me that they apply now more than ever in the present world of constant armed conflict between mind-blessed beings.

Mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a corrupt mind, suffering follows,
As the wheel follows the hoof of the ox pulling a cart.

Mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a serene mind, happiness follows,
As surely as one’s shadow.

He abused me, mistreated me, defeated me, robbed me.
Harboring such thoughts keeps hatred alive.
Releasing such thoughts banish hatred for all time.

Animosity does not eradicate animosity.
Only by loving-kindness is animosity dissolved.
The law is ancient and eternal.

An impeachable lie

Okay, I'm an active anti-Bushie, but I've never subscribed to the impeachment talk, largely because of its unlikelihood, also because of its impact on America right now. But most significantly because I've not found a directly impeachable offense in all of Bush's lies and conduct, however evil. Not impeachable, I've reasoned, because not involving moral turpitude, and not amounting to "high crimes and misdemeanors."

But the lies he repeatedly told about Saddam Hussein's links to Al Qaida, his scare tactics that goaded the Congress and the public into war, came close. And now this, a lie by omission, pushes the case against him over the top. The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) he claims to have relied on in making war, contained the clearly-stated conclusion that Saddam was not likely to attack the US, or join with terrorists to do so, unless he was desperate; in other words, unless Iraq was attacked, or in imminent danger of being attacked.

Not a peep about this CIA conclusion, because it flew in the face of Bush's plans to invade Iraq. But that's not the indictable, impeachable part. What Bush did was lie to the Congress (this conclusion was not included in the censored version of the NIE that the White House allowed the Congress to read) and the rest of us, over a matter which jeopardized our lives and property. He deliberately failed to tell us that attacking Iraq would, in the judgment of the intelligence he knew, place us at greater risk for harm and the spread of terrorism to our shores, than if we did not attack.

And that, mein dammen und herren, is treason.

What a revoltin' development this is!

According to the ticker on Islam Online, the Turkish Parliament has approved sending Turkish troops into Iraq, as the US has requested. According to the same ticker, the Governing Council of Iraq (the Bremer-appointed bunch of Iraqis), has unanimously vote to reject Turkish troops. I haven't seen these developments reported anywhere else yet, but if true (a) it will be interesting to see how they're covered, and (b) even more fascinating to see how Tribune Bremer and his bosses Bush and Rummie (and now Condie Rice) deal with it.

WMDs?

It has been suggested that we post a balance of reactions to David Kay's report about his WMD search. Instead, herewith is a link to the entire interim report delivered to Congress a few days ago.

If, after reading it, anyone still believes an invasion costing billions of US dollars and thousands of lives -- as opposed to continued UN monitoring and inspections costing perhaps a few million UN dollars and no lives -- was worth it, well, for such person I suggest therapy.

The American Saddam

A report from "on the ground" in Iraq. The numbers (of dollars spent on American contractors as opposed to Iraqi companies; of schools repaired and still untouched, and so forth) are staggering. And the disdain with which Tribune Bremer and his minions treat the people we are supposed to have liberated is sad indeed.

Monday, October 06, 2003

Tolerating the intolerant

Kyle and I have, after some deliberation, posted the preceding entry ("Dear Men and Women..."), by "Kerry," notwithstanding its intolerant, offensive content. We did so because we were told that otherwise we would be guilty of censoring posts to our blog; and I, for one, felt it wise to alert readers to the type of thought I find we have no obligation to purvey. After all, the person who wrote this entry has an equal opportunity to create her own weblog or otherwise to spread her thoughts to all who want to read them.

What saddens me--and first gave Kyle and me pause in spreading this person's thoughts--is the writer's expressed desire, as a self-professed "student of history," to live in a world in which "we must play dirty against dirty players," in which "Saddam is a terrorist who deserves death," and in which the French are labeled "cowards and double talkers, just like they were in W.W.II." These are not the thoughts of anyone I care to be around. They are the babblings of a distorted, demented mind.
The saddest part of it is that although such writers are entitled to the same freedoms of expression that we all enjoy, they consider themselves students of history when they know nothing, and have learned nothing from the past. Even worse, they have a vote in America, just as do those thoughtful caring citizens who truly deserve to participate in our democratic system.

Dear men and women of the same simplistic thinking

An Opposing Viewpoint received by e-mail:

Dear men and women of the same simplistic thinking.

Like other presidents, including LBJ and Kennedy--who got us into
Vietnam--and Carter--a nice guy who extended our problems with Iran for 40 times longer
than they needed to be, I think we can assume that Bush's justification for war
was exaggerated if measured by tangible evidence.

However, it is foolish to believe that weapons of mass destruction did not
exist in Iraq as early as 16 months ago, nor that they would not have returned
to Iraq and been employed, probably against Israel and the US, had the invasion
not taken place.

It is foolish to believe that Saddam would not have directly or indirectly
financed a nuclear bomb against the US in the future.

Weapons of mass destruction are not why we needed to invade Iraq. It goes
much deeper than that, and the WMD excuse was erroneously cited as justification.

We must realize that our new enemy is not a single country, it is an
extremist religion known by several names including Jihad. We must rigorously pursue
this enemy in whatever country harbors its infrastructure or members. We must
not "play fairly" and be the fools that Saddam and his peers rely on us to
be. We must play dirty against dirty fighters.

Saddam is a terrorist who deserves death.
At the very least, he paid families of martyred bombers a $25,000 reward for
their acts of terrorism. This is sponsoring terrorism.
He had WMD in the past, using them against his own people and others.
He cannot show where these WMD were destroyed or where they are now.
In 1991 he moved his weapons to his brother in hate, Iran, because he knew we
could not pursue them there. This is probably where the WMD are now. Or they
are in Iraq, hidden--a simple task considering that Iraq is the size of
California (would it be hard to hide 20 semi trucks in California, if you had 2
years to do so? Get real)
Saddam invaded Kuwait without provocation, then set its oil wells afire,
causing an environmental disaster and economic devastation for other Arabs. He
should be hated by liberals and conservatives.
Saddam had over a dozen UN resolutions that would have saved him from
invasion. He chose to obey none of them.
The Sept 11 attack and other attacks against American troops came at us when
we had invaded no Muslim country.

And you think that not attacking terrorist nations will cause that to stop?

Had France lost it's Louvre in a Sept 11 type raid, I wonder how much peace
they would be promoting now. Actually, probably a lot, as they are cowards and
double talkers, just like they were in W.W.II. In fact, at the time that
Hitler invaded them, their military was as strong in all measurable ways as that
of Germany. It was their cowardice that cost the world hundreds of thousands
of lives. If they are attacked again, by whomever, they should be left on
their own.

Pan Arab hatred for Americans is based mostly on our support of Israel. Such
support may be wrong, but it will not change. Get used to it. If it does
change, the Arab extremists, for the most part young men who do not want to work
for a living and are involved in the power of a cult, will use history as
their hate justification. They will always find a reason to do what they do,
because it makes them feel important.

The war against Iraq, and against any nation that harbors terrorists, is not
only justified, it is necessary. Bush, poorly equipped in many ways, is
courageous however for rooting out the enemy in the face of such irrational yet
powerful resistance by a minority of uninformed citizens who I suspect hate
their own country, and for the most part, their own lives.

Doing nothing against a clear aggressor sounds wonderful, but our own
personal lives with bullies, and world history, has shown us time and time again that
it does not work. The only thing that men like Saddam and Quadaffi fear is
the loss of their harems, property, power, and lifestyles.

Sincerely,

Kerry, a student of history [e-mail]

Israel attacks sites in Syria

News

I'm too tired to write about the truly weighty issues raised here, such as the right to national self defense, the crime of state-sponsored terrorism, or the sovereignty of international borders. But I can't help wondering if Washington knew about the attacks beforehand. And whether the Bush administration has finally really lost influence over Israel.

Of Avocados and Kalashnikovs

Today I attended the annual Avocado Festival in Carpinteria, ten miles east of SB. It's a typical "festival," with craft and food booths, live bands, strolling locals and tourists--always with ocean-cooled breezes and late-afternoon warmth. I meandered up and down Linden Avenue holding aloft my sign--a five-foot pole bearing an erasable placard that presently asks on one side, "Hey, Hey, USA, How many soldiers died today?" and on the other, "Bush-Cheney: $87 billion more--R U Nuts?"

The Festival was mobbed. I stood on the sidewalk in silent vigil for some of the time, but mostly walked through it, sign aloft, for two hours. The Democratic Party had a booth; the Republicans too (with a lifesized photo of the Terminator on one side, of Bush on the other), and so I wasn't the only political voice there--although it felt like it a lot of the time. When I first started my stroll, a security guard moved to my side, spoke these words quietly, "Look buddy, I agree with your sign--don't get me wrong. But if you get into a ruckus over it, move away, just move away, okay?" I said, "Okay." He could not have been more direct, helpful and right on. I did not want to lose any teeth or limbs--not with yet a year to go until we get rid of Bush!

Of those who commented on my message, 30% were unfavorable (from "Shove that sign up your ass!" to "Those soldiers are dying for your freedom!" (?) ); and 70% were pro, some with a quickly-flashed peace sign or supportive whisper, some with a kind tap on the shoulder, a few with strident agreement, including, often, the comment, "You've got a lot of guts-right on!" Ninety-nine percent said nothing, indicated nothing. Needless to say, I kept my teeth. Kept my sign, too. Illuminating experience for me. Look for me at your local shopping center.

The side of my sign that questioned the death toll drew the most comments, pro and con, but the side protesting the money thing--the 87 billion--drew comments like, "What a waste," and "What can we do?"

I shrugged, could only shrug. Long ago, when I learned the law (see previous post for my confession that I was a lawyer) I was told that the House of Representatives held the purse. And yet nowadays these humungous monetary sums are presented by the Executive Branch and approved without meaningful hearings and attention by Congress, even though those for whom the monies are being expended are protesting that it's too much! Why indeed must we buy thousands of new rifles for soldiers who already have rifles? Why must we build Iraq from scratch, using American specs, American workers, when there's a hungry labor force in place and an eager industrial base ready to build?

The war was madness. The peacekeeping is madness. The rebuilding is madness. The madness of King George.






Sunday, October 05, 2003

Eating Crow with Wild Rice

Faced with the inescapable fact that plans have gone to hell in a halftrack in Iraq and Afghanistan, the president (Secret Service codename "Big Stetson") has ordered a major reorganization of efforts Over There. This includes the creation of an "Iraq Stabalization Group." And here's the sweet part: that's headed by NSA Condoleezza Rice.

It couldn't be better. Mr. Bush is simply not going to learn to cut loose his liabilities. And until he does, he's doomed, and the odds of getting a Democrat in the White House improve. Go get 'em, Connie! Cowboy up!

Yeah, sure it's like baseball ... isn't everything? It's like watching a pitcher throwing wild, beaning batters ... and the coach just won't take her out.

Daily Kos: Do Over in Iraq and Afghanistan

He ain't heavy, he's my...

I, Erik, one of this blog's co-authors, confess to this: I spent three decades as a lawyer in private practice. In that capacity I came to know many lawyers, none of whom, however, approaches John--a contributor to this blog from time to time (including the following insight)--in terms of dedication to the true value of law practice: to help those in need. This man, who happens to be my older brother (I'm "outing" him, I know, but that's in vogue lately), offers this post:

"Despite our society's remarkable achievements in the area of representative democracy, we are aware, as lawyers, of the tremendous obstacles posed by the people in power, Republicans or Democrats, who have the instruments of wealth or politics at their disposal.

"Greed and political power drive our society and, as lawyers, we can occasionally provide a measure of justice to the poor and oppressed through the exercise of our abilities to access the courts and the media. But the battle will never be won, because the basic nature of human society reflects the values of a secular society, not St Augustine's City of God."

See what I mean? How'd you like to have a brother who thinks and writes like that?

'Scuse the rant, but it's to announce there is a God

Well, maybe not. But the Cubbies have made it to the second round of the playoffs and the Red Sox have a chance to advance too. Okay, the Giants are gone and the Yankees have advanced, but what if--just think about it, America--what if the World Series is between Boston and the Chicago Cubs. The two most exquisite also-rans in American sports history! Screw the recall election: The real news on this planet is Major League baseball.

And (as if it matters) our friend David Kay (any relation to Danny Kaye? I guess not, but who knows in these days of nose-jobs and other alterations of nature) reports that he needs more time (read more time sucking on the public tit) to investigate stuff. What stuff?

Maybe he needs time to shuck his fellow WMD-seekers for a moment in order to plant some more botulism (Shit--I probably have botulism growing somewhere in my fridge right now!) or maybe some athlete's foot fungus.

This is insanity, what we're being asked to accept as reality. This is no longer "spin." This is lying, slimy-crotched bullshit.

Sure, Saddam was a bad guy with a nasty regime, but all this other crap is bullshit. We--that's you and me, folks--have elected (kinda) a leader who has led us to make war--aggressive, offensive war--on a sovereign nation in violation of international law.

How does that feel, America? Isn't it time we turn this around or die, as all other evil empires have died? It's our choice.

Labor Force

Labor Force Grows Slightly (washingtonpost.com)

Labor force ... hmm ... that gives me an idea. Maybe the Dept of Defense could cut down on younger jobseekers by drafting them into military service. And if they have recent college degrees, they could be drafted into service as teachers for ISNI -- the Ideal Society for a New Iraq. Hey, maybe they could get Wendy Kopp on the project, since Pres Bush hosed her by defunding Teach for America.

So many good ideas for energizing the economy for middle-agers like myself. For example, this company looks like a good investment. You gotta love their motto, "No order too large or too small."