Random Fate

But soldiers can't be hurt with flowers

The complete and total delusional miscalculation of what would happen in Iraq by the Bush administration became obvious once again this week. It has become obvious we are not being greeted with flowers.

The True Cost of War

In anger and embarrassment, Congressional Republicans are scrambling to repair a budget shortfall in veterans' medical care now that the Bush administration has admitted it vastly underestimated the number of returning Iraq and Afghanistan personnel needing treatment. The $1 billion-plus gaffe is considerable, with the original budget estimate of 23,553 returned veterans needing care this year now ballooning to 103,000. American taxpayers should be even more furious than Congress.

Rather than being a case of cold hearted callousness on the part of Republicans, as many on the left have claimed, it appears that underfunding the Veterans Administration may simply be another example of gross incompetence on the part of the administration and the unwillingness of Republicans to go against the administration.

The Capitol's Republican majorities have shown no hesitation in signing the president's serial blank-check supplemental budgets for waging the war, yet they repeatedly ignored months of warnings from Democrats that returning veterans were being shortchanged. One Republican who warned of the problem - Representative Christopher Smith of New Jersey - lost his chairmanship of the Veterans Affairs Committee after pressing his plea too boldly before the House leadership.

But partisan resistance melted in a flood of political chagrin once the administration admitted the budget error, which was first discovered in April but only now disclosed. The explanation offered - the gaffe was due to using dated formulas based on prewar calculations - left Republicans sputtering all the more.

Take note of the reason: "the gaffe was due to using dated formulas based on prewar calculations". The prewar calculations were off by an order of magnitude. There is a word for that, incompetence.

Buying Elections

I went through my e-mail today, and I came across a piece from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. On my own blog, I have remarked on the DCCC's penchant for filling my inbox with messages that ask me to "please send money."

A recent e-mail, dated June 23, came with this subject line:

Don't Let the GOP Buy Another Election!

And how can I prevent the GOP from buying another election? By ... ahem ... sending money. E-mails like this threaten to break the Irony-O-Meter.

Chickenhawk

Goldstein demolishes the "Chickenhawk" rhetoric.

Independence Day

This will be my last post here until Tuesday, so I leave you some topical quotes...

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

-Elmer Davis

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."

-Thomas Paine

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself."

-Thomas Paine

"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Happy 4th, Americans.

Foreign Ground

It's always weird hanging in someone else's digs, but I told Jack that I would at least put up one post before I skipped town myself.

And I've been meaning to link Ophelia for over a week now on her gay stereotype bashing post. A young one in blog years, and yet, she's got the idea.

It's interesting to gain a new perspective.

Pam discussed this several months ago, and I linked her on it. We wondered why so many homosexuals have seemed to define themselves by their homosexuality.

Ophelia blames Hollywood for handing down that definition, rather than the gay community. And I say: How can you not blame Hollywood? Those feather-muckers.

I will say this, at least of late, the movement seems to have gotten away from the "nasty, sickly, disease-ridden" stereotypes, and more towards the JUST JACK! overly animated type from Will and Grace.

That's our fault. As humans, we find comfort in stereotyping, almost as much as we are enraged by it. And as an audience of this generation, we seek comedic relief as a refreshing contrast to the world's coming to an end! mentality of the late 80's.

And so here we are...

Regarding our position on the bell curve of balance - on ALL of the issues - I have to question where we stand.

I can't help but wonder how close we are to "as good as it gets."

On Prejudice

I'm in a Shakespearean mode of late, so I offer the words of Shylock, from The Merchant of Venice:

I am a Jew. Hath
not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, healed by the same means,
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as
a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison
us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge?

Bush's REAL Speech

President George Bush's speech is all over the news -- but did you know there are two versions of this speech?

On my own blog I ran THIS POST that analyzed the speech we saw on television.

But then we leared about the REAL speech and did THIS POST.

My Thoughts on Iraq

Since there has been so much heated discussion on my blog of late about Iraq. I thought I would write the definitive post on my feelings about the war. I am going to TRY and keep this short to avoid misinterpretation.

I am against the war. I have been against it almost from day one, as I believed and still believe that the REAL war is in Afghanistan, and the greater danger to our country is Osama Bin Laden.

I believe it was an insult to those who died on 9/11 and their families, to shift focus from finding their murderer to pursuing a war in Iraq.

I believe the American People were lied to about the reasons for going to war, and I believe we began executing a secret war in Iraq well before the war was declared or authorized.

I believe the neglect of our troops in providing them proper equipment and support is a criminal act that should be punished.

I believe that ultimately the abuses at Abu Gharib, Gitmo and in Afghanistan are the responsibility of command, and prosecuting a bunch of low level troops for these abuses does nothing to address the cause.

I believe that to support our troops does not mean that we have to support an illegal and immoral war. Further I believe that REALLY supporting our troops means demanding that they have the best equipment to get the job done, and the best medical and social services when they return home.

I do not believe in timetables for ending the war. We broke a country, we need to fix what we broke and finish the job. But I do believe we need to demand accountability and a strategy rather than idiotic rhetoric. Saying the insurrection is in its "Last Throes," as your Generals acknowledge a situation unchanged from six months ago, is just adding to the long list of lies associated with this war. Denying the need for additional resources when it is clear that they are needed is not SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS.

I believe that those who most loudly support the war SHOULD be doing something other than spouting rhetoric. I don't necessarily think that everyone who expresses support for the war on a blog should or could be a good soldier, but I do believe that many of the most rabid supporters who are young, able bodied men and women, should put their money where their mouth is and volunteer if they feel so strongly about it. Perhaps some of the others could support the war by buying additional flack jackets and such, since our government seems incapable of outfitting the troops. The families of these troops have already taken on a tremendous burden. I am sure a few of the Top Conservative Bloggers can afford to donate a few thousand bucks a piece to such a noble cause.

I am going to finish this post with a comment I made last night in response to a criticism of one of my post:

"True patriotism is standing up for what is right. They lied, and over 100,000 people are now dead. I don't really care about the morale of our troops in light of that. Nor do I care about being right personally. I care about my country and it's place in History. That place has potentially been irrevocably stained as a result of the actions of a few people whom you happen to support. History will determine who among us is right or wrong. The fact that so many of you on the Right are willing to overlook the immorality of sending our young men and women to war based on a lie, is a sad testament to the state of political affairs in our country today.

The evidence is beginning to mount that this war was executed well before we went to the U.N. or got Congressional Approval. You may be able to live with that, I can not, and will not accept it for the convenience of being accepted as a fellow patriot. My form of Patriotism recalls the founding principals of this country, not the evolving lack of principal in an age of Special Interest.

This will forever divide us, regardless of how we might feel about each other on a personal level. I have committed myself to seeking the truth, no matter how much it may hurt. That hurt may be to my pride if all the actions taken by our government prove to be legal and moral, if they do not, the hurt will be much more grievous, and I pray to God that those of you who did not ask questions, are able to sleep at night with the results."

So I am going to keep on covering the DSM, and I am going to keep on criticizing our government when I think it is the right thing to do. Call me a Traitor, imply that I don't support our troops, call me a moonbat, whatever. History will be the measure of all of our patriotism and of the justness and legality of this war. For now there is one thing in which we all agree. We need to finish the job. But when it is done, perhaps before... We all need to take a look at WHY...

Oh, and ONE MORE THING... READ MY LIPS... Iraq has NOTHING to do with 9/11!

"We are not going away."

Crossposted to ISOU

What Bush should have said!

But didn't:
"The young people who support me and support the war effort should put their money where their mouth is and join the military."

Wish This One Was Mine...

"Politicians, like diapers, have to be changed frequently--and for the very same reason."

-Author Unknown

Have truer words ever been spoken?

Speech

Not much of a title but it wasn't much of a speech. I must admit I'm surprised. Why you ask?. There was no attempt at anything new, not even any new bull shit. The same old spinning platitudes recycled. Of course among the platitudes 911 was mentioned, at least 3 times I think. He emphasized that 911 was the centerpiece of the war on terror. Polls indicate a majority no longer think so. Bush's rather lame performance won't change any minds. Once again the plan is not a plan. He will hold on to those who are still heavely addicted to the Kool-Aid but won't help the numbers.

Not much of a post but once again it wasn't much of a speech.

Another X Republican

I feel a bit foolish that I had to travel to Andrew Sullivan's blog on the east coast to find this op ed in a paper less than 100 miles from where is live but here it is.
The party's over for betrayed Republican

As of today, after 25 years, I am no longer a Republican.
[......]
My problem is this: I believe in principles and ideals which my party has systematically discarded in the last 10 years.

My Republican Party was the party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Barry Goldwater, and George H.W. Bush. It was a party of honesty and accountability. It was a party of tolerance, and practicality and honor. It was a party that faced facts and dealt with reality, and that crafted common-sense solutions to problems based on the facts as they were, not as we wished them to be, or even worse, as we made them up. It was a party that told the truth, even when the truth came hard. And now, it is none of those things.

Fifty years from now, the Republican Party of this era will be judged by how we provided for the nation's future on three core issues: how we led the world on the environment, how we minded the business of running our country in such a way that we didn't go bankrupt, and whether we gracefully accepted our place on the world's stage as its only superpower. Sadly, we have built the foundation for dismal failure on all three counts. And we've done it in such a way that we shouldn't be surprised if neither the American people nor the world ever trusts us again.

Like many traditional Republicans James Chaney feels betrayed.

My party has repeatedly ignored, discarded and even invented science to suit its needs, most spectacularly as to global warming. We have an opportunity and the responsibility to lead the world on this issue, but instead we've chosen greed, shortsightedness and deliberate ignorance.

We have mortgaged the country's fiscal future in a way that no Democratic Congress or administration ever did, and to justify the tax cuts that brought us here, we've simply changed the rules. I matured as a Republican believing that uncontrolled deficit spending is harmful and irresponsible; I still do. But the party has yet to explain to me why it's a good thing now, other than to say "... because we say so."

Our greatest failure, though, has been in our role as superpower. This world needs justice, democracy and compassion, and as the keystone of those things, it needs one thing above all else: truth.

The theocons and neocons don't represent the Republican party much less America. They don't represent to proverbial "moral majority" anymore than the extreme left represents the "moral majority".

I Changed My Mind About That Political Thing...

Let's say--theoretically, of course--that your country is run by the dregs of society. Dregs who look out for number one, and don't actually give a fig about you and me. Dregs who waste our hard-earned money every chance they get, and spend most of their time and energy ensuring they get re-elected every 2, 4, or 6 years (as the case may be).

Now let's say some court decision is made...I don't know...giving them the right to take away the home your grandfather built. The home your father grew up in, and the home your dear, sweet, apple pie-baking grandmother lives in. She lives on a tight budget, but still manages to spoil her grandchildren when they come to visit her. Every 4th of July the whole family gathers at Grandma's house for a barbecue dinner after the parade. The flag waves on the flagpole your grandfather put up after your uncle died in Vietnam.

But one year, the government comes along and tells your grandmother to pack her things. Her house is standing in the way of progress. A company worth billions of dollars needs to build their new headquarters in the very spot your dad buried his pet dog when he was 12 years old. They can't build 20 miles away on the land a farmer is trying to sell because he can't make a living on his farm. Nope, they need Grandma's house.

Your grandmother packs her things, takes the market value settlement, and tries to find a new home for herself. Of course, it's hard to find an equivalent home, because her house was 50 years old and most new homes cost much more. So Grandma settles into a small apartment in a senior living community. Her grandkids can't visit as much, because there just isn't the room. Plus some of the seniors don't care for the noise kids make.

On the day the bulldozers move in to tear the old house down, your cousin puts a flag on Grandpa's flagpole and sets it on fire. It's his small way of protesting against a government that would rip an old lady out of her home...some old men and women in black robes let it happen...some politicians let it happen. No one stopped it. So the flag of the country burns in silent protest. And your cousin is arrested for it.

Fair, huh?

I'm disgusted!!!!

The traffic over at my blog Middle Earth Journal is up this month. I should be happy, right? Well I'm not. I did a single post that mentioned Natalee Halloway about 2 or 3 days after the media event started. It was a rant against the media for wall to wall coverage. Most, but not all, of the increased traffic this month has been search engine hits for that post. I'm sorry, but that's really sick. The world is full of life and death news, real news. I'm disgusted.

That's all...thank you

A good cause

I usually dont post whole post from other blogs, but this is a worthy cause that all of us should be willing to help on. From Wizbang:

I've mentioned in passing the story of Manuel Gehring, the New Hampshire man
who killed his two children, then hanged himself in his jail cell
before his trial.

But for some reason I kept neglecting to mention what may be the most tragic element. Gehring shot the children in his minivan, then started driving across the country. Somewhere along Interstate 80 between Pennsylvania and Iowa, he pulled off the highway and buried his son and daughter. But their bodies have never been recovered.

Authorities are convinced that the Gehring was telling the truth before he killed himself. They report that all the details are accurate, and all the physical evidence (the purchasing of the shovel and other materials he says he used to bury them, the overwhelming evidence in the van that it was a murder scene, and so on) backs it up. Gehring himself retraced his path several times with law enforcement officials, but couldn't find the scene.

Terri Knight -- Gehring's ex-wife and mother of the missing children -- has been to the Midwest several times, and is planning yet another trip soon. She's hoping that this time she will find the bodies of her son and daughter, and bring them home for a proper burial.

The FBI has taken a most unusual step. They have posted transcripts and audio clips of Gehring's account on their web site here and here.

Please do the trackback dance and get this story noticed.

Crossposted to ISOU

Common Ground

"Even revolutionaries like chocolate chip cookies."

-Trudeau's Doonesbury

Losing the middle

The ARG poll yesterday showing that the Bush administration has all but lost the middle has already resulted in a great deal of blog activity. I gave my thoughts and the thoughts of a couple of others over at Middle Earth Journal but today I want to discuss what the Democrats should and more importantly shouldn't do to take advatage of it.
The Bush administration cannot improve their approval rating based on their policy. In spite of continued rosy assesments from the administration the majority have figured out that things are not going well in Iraq and that the economy is not really as great as the moronic John Snow would like us to believe. As a result expect the Rovian slime machine to kick into full gear. The only way the administration can hope to come out of this is to make the Democrats look worse. There are indications that it may backfire this time. It is essential that the Democrats are very careful not to give the appearance that they are climbing into the same slimy gutter that Rove resides in. There was nothing inaccurate about what Dick Durbin said about GITMO but he could have avoided the inflammatory references to gulags and the Nazis. Howard Dean should continue to criticize the Republicans but should avoid the Rovian inflammatory generalizations that may inspire the base but turn off everyone else. If you fight Rove using his tactics you will lose.
My advice to the Democrats is you can win this round; the polls show that not nearly as many are drinking the kool-aid now. But you won't win if you you try to out-slime Karl Rove. Take the high road, it's a winner this time.

Someone Has To Be First Second

Hello, Jack's readers. This is my second time guest-blogging here. I'm surprised Jack asked me to return, considering my own blog's lack of quality lately, but someone has to throw some quotes out now and then. May as well be me, I guess.

First I'd like to let you know that you will not get any thoughtful or visionary political commentary out of me. I find that sort of thing is best left to those with good blood pressure medication.

Now, how about a quote or two to bid Jack a bon voyage?

"A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking."

-Earl Wilson

"A vacation should be just long enough that your boss misses you, and not long enough for him to discover how well he can get along without you."

-Unknown

Enjoy yourself, Jack!

"Fixed," means Fixed!

"Fixed" means Fixed!

From Blue Collar Politics

Michael Smith, the Sunday Times reporter who broke he story thinks he knows what "fixed" means. On June 16, he told the Washington Post:

"There are a number of people asking about 'fixed' and its meaning. This is a real joke. I do not know anyone in the UK who took it to mean anything other than fixed, as in fixed a race, fixed an election, fixed the intelligence. If you fix something, you make it the way you want it. The intelligence was fixed...the head of MI-6 has just been to Washington. He has just talked with George Tenet. He said the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. That translates in clearer terms as the intelligence was being cooked to match what the administration wanted it to say to justify invading Iraq."

I contacted a number of British friends who are close observers of the political scene, to get their opinion. Here is one recent email reply:

"Nobody that I have come across here in London interprets the term 'fixed' in this context as other than cooked/manipulated/selected. Fixed refers to trickery—as in 'the fix is in.' What Woolsey and Co. may think...that is completely irrelevant. It is what we British think that counts. The memo was written to be read by us British, not by Woolsey. It appears that he and his "neoconservative" friends are getting a bit desperate. He would probably be one of the people to go to jail at the end of this, given the key role he has played."

Or, from VIPS colleague Col. Patrick Lang, USA (ret), who tends to be more succinct:

"Fixed is fixed, man."

And Spin means Spin...

And lies my friends... Are lies...

We are not going away...

Crossposted to ISOU

Relativism is no defense for immoral acts

I had seen some posts earlier today on this, but combined with my host problems along with the lack of confirmation regarding the assertions in the news releases, I chose not to try to write about this issue at the time. Now, with confirmation, it provides a starting point for a post that I lost when my hard disk for my PowerBook died, so I will attempt to reconstruct it now.

The news story:

US acknowledges torture at Guantanamo and Iraq, Afghanistan: UN source

Fri Jun 24, 9:23 AM ET

GENEVA (AFP) - Washington has for the first time acknowledged to the
United Nations that prisoners have been tortured at US detention centres in Guantanamo Bay, as well as
Afghanistan and Iraq, a UN source said.

The acknowledgment was made in a report submitted to the UN Committee against Torture, said a member of the ten-person panel, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"They are no longer trying to duck this, and have respected their obligation to inform the UN," the Committee member told AFP.

"They will have to explain themselves (to the Committee). Nothing should be kept in the dark."

UN sources said it was the first time the world body has received such a frank statement on torture from US authorities.

The Committee, which monitors respect for the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, is gathering information from the US ahead of hearings in May 2006.

Signatories of the convention are expected to submit to scrutiny of their implementation of the 1984 convention and to provide information to the Committee.

The document from Washington will not be formally made public until the hearings.

"They haven't avoided anything in their answers, whether concerning prisoners in Iraq, in Afghanistan or Guantanamo, and other accusations of mistreatment and of torture," the Committee member said.

"They said it was a question of isolated cases, that there was nothing systematic and that the guilty were in the process of being punished."

The US report said that those involved were low-ranking members of the military and that their acts were not approved by their superiors, the member added.

The US has faced criticism from UN human rights experts and international groups for mistreatment of detainees -- some of whom died in custody -- in Afghanistan and Iraq, particularly during last year's prisoner abuse scandal surrounding the Abu Ghraib facility there.

Scores of US military personnel have been investigated, and several tried and convicted, for abuse of people detained during the US-led campaign against Islamic terrorist groups.

First: I take no joy in this. I feel shame for my nation.

Second: My nation has indeed done the right thing and admitted that individuals that were representing the United States engaged in behaviors that could be called "torture" under a reasonable interpretation of the word.

Third: This admission should NOT be read as anything more than what it is; an acknowledgment that certain individuals did not act in accordance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Going against this Convention is not a stated part of United States policy.

After all of the above, can we finally look at this issue?

I have stated repeatedly both here and in comments at other weblogs about how the prison at Guantanamo stains our national honor.

I want to clarify for those who do not get it exactly how this prison is wrong upon its very basis.

However, this explanation is perhaps too long for the modern short attention span, much less for the time I have available to reconstruct the coherent whole of the foundation of my beliefs.

So instead I will try a melange of my thoughts that perhaps might provide a better perspective, even if being less satisfying from a logical viewpoint.

I have grown very angry recently when I have seen defenders of abhorrent statements from prominent representatives of BOTH sides of the political spectrum, namely Karl Rove and Dick Durban.

Am I equating what they said?

No, I am not.

But I am indeed equating much of what I have read in defense of what they said.

Typically, the defense follows the pattern of "Yes, but the other side has said this..." followed by a listing of more egregious offenses than those presented by the offensive statements of the representatives of their preferred side.

In other words, relative morality at its apex.

When I was young and I wanted to do something, I would try to persuade my parents (mainly my mother) by saying something along the lines of "But Jimmy is able to do it!!!"

Consistently, the response I received was, "If Jimmy jumped off a bridge, would you jump off it, too?"

That lesson stuck with me.

The cries of defense when Durban or Rove say something idiotic, cries of "Well, the other side said..." ring hollow in my ears.

Should we base our statements and behavior on what our opponents do?

I do not think so.

I was tempted earlier to write a post entitled "Can someone show me the memo" that was followed up by the statement, "you know, the memo where we can justify any behavior by saying that someone else, usually our opponents, behave worse, so our bad behavior is just fine because it is not as evil."

I do not know if it was fortunate or unfortunate that due to a mistake on my part my weblog was offline while I was mentally composing that post.

The residue of the feelings that provoked those thoughts remain, however. I am disgusted by the relative morality expressed by those who are more than ready to call foul on anyone who does not adhere to their own point of view, but defend to the point of unreasonable incoherence statements equally morally egregious from those "on the same side".

To put it simply, no situation is evaluated on whether or not that person behaved in a manner right or wrong, independent of the acts of others. Instead, everything is brought to the appeal of "someone on the other side did worse", regardless of how representative of the "other side" is this so-called archetype chosen by the opposition.

Let us take this to the extreme then. By this logic, I can rape whoever I want as long as I don't kill them, because there are more than few out there I can point to who did worse than just "merely rape" someone.

I can essentially do or say whatever I want because I can always find someone whose behavior is worse.

Is that truly the mode of thought we want to follow?

This is the system we are setting up with the unreasoning, unreasonable defense of those who are behaving badly by any standard, but are defended by those who cannot see beyond their own partisan gain or loss.

What happened to "look at each situation to determine the right or wrong of it; do not let others determine your standards..."?

Apparently that baseline has disappeared.

This sums up why I call the prison camp at Guantanamo dishonorable:

A nation, or a person, the honor of either is shown by how they treat those whom they have in their power, those with no defense.

The foundation of the Untied States is in a nation of laws, not of men.

Yet...

We deliberately create a prison at Guantanamo to imprison people beyond the reach of law.

We do not set up a realistic, reasonable system to review the imprisonment of those held with consistent standards of evidence.

We created an environment where bad actors could carry out their bad acts with the belief they would not be caught.

Added to the mix: The President declares he has the power to name any US citizen an "enemy combatant" who upon being imprisoned cannot have any access to counsel, nor any appeal.

Are you seeing a pattern here that is a wee bit hypocritical compared to what we say we want to do, which is destroy dictatorships such as that of Saddam Hussein in Iraq?

Is there a distant but still dimly reflective mirror present here?

Answer honestly.

The defense of these actions is of the "Yes, but..." genre, which does not speak well of these actions in and of themselves.

In other words, honorable behavior does not depend upon the actions of others but instead is recognized on its own.

If your first defense of any act, whether perpetrated by Democrat or Republican, military or civilian contractor, starts with "Yes, but..." then the behavior you are defending is NOT honorable.

Honorable behavior stands on its own.

Honorable behavior does not need to be compared to atrocious acts to be held in high regard.

Honorable behavior has its own standards that are independent of the bad acts of others.

Honorable behavior does not depend upon relative morality.

Do the math.

When you cry, "Yes, but the terrorists are worse," or, "Yes, but the Democrats (Republicans) have said worse," consider what exactly is the behavior you are defending. If these acts were committed by someone on "the other side", would you give them a pass on it? How does this behavior seem when evaluated independently, based solely upon its own merits and flaws rather than upon who "wins" or "loses"?

Honor knows no relative morality, and I am surprised by those who appear to have forgotten this basic lesson.

Guest posters

I am going on vacation for two weeks.

What does this mean?

On vacation means I likely will not post, even if I have internet access, which I am not sure I will have given both my lack of plans for my vacation accompanied with the death of my favorite laptop.

So, to prevent the slow death of Random Fate, I have arranged for a variety of guest posters to keep Random Fate alive while I try to recover my perspective and regain my sanity, which has been strained by numerous sources, none of which I will go into here.

The guest posters range quite widely in viewpoint, but I have found ALL of them to be reasonable as opposed to knee-jerking in their responses to the events and the politics of the day.

In addition, ALL of them are engaging and entertaining to read, which is why they are all on my blogroll along with being at the top of my RSS news reader list.

So, please click on their names when you read their posts here, for that links you to their own, personal sites where you can get more of their original thoughts. The quality and tone of what they have posted on their own sites is indeed why I asked them to post here.

Their thoughts are their own, not just a rehash of the talking points from a particular party.

They each have their own point of view, and they all deserve to be heard, for they are willing to consider other viewpoints as well.

I hope you can follow their example and do the same.

Times, oh how they change...

... I once dated a drop-dead gorgeous librarian-type back in high school... dishwater blonde hair... a marvelous creature at the tender age of 17.... I was 16 at the time... never got past first base with her, though... very, very religious, she was.. hey, that was cool with me... I was always a slow starter anyway... we'd go parking in the seclusion of a farmer's backroad and just hold hands... talk... maybe a few kisses... it was real Norman Rockwell stuff... I was pretty inexperienced, but she was truly virgin territory... through those initial fumblings, I slowly taught the lass the ropes... she was a project I didn't mind working on... taking sweet, sweet time to mold her... she turned out to be a pretty good kisser after six months of practice... but, I digress...

... she broke it off with me while I was enjoying the pleasantries of 3rd phase at Parris Island... I remember it explicitly... I was stringing up concertina wire on Elliot's Beach when I got the Dear John letter... I was crushed... she'd blitzed off to university when I headed to boot camp... there, she met some college bookworm with a 20 dollar coiffure who stole her heart... it was a real low... a sweaty Marine recruit bested by a collegeboy... probably named Todd... or Chip...

... last night, I was given a tidbit of news that still has me reeling... a friend of mine that I haven't seen in 10 years dropped by... and as you always end up doing, we began reminiscing about back in the day.. well, a few tumblers of Scotch later, and our old yearbook was dragged from the shelf.. fingers were pointed to pictures of pimply kids with mullets... stories were bandied... it's amazing to see how the memories of same events are juggled by the years.. I remember one way, and he another... anyway, conversation rolled around to Those Who Were Dated....

... my little girl?... my sweet and innocent?... the shy, trembling one who ditched me because I wasn't a virgin... pigeonholed me as not worthy as a future Husband because I'd gotten laid before meeting her?.. well, at the tender age of 24 she had evidently blossomed... according to the tale I was told, she was filmed... filmed, I say.. getting gangbanged by an entire football team... caught in the act by a college linebacker with his Momma's camcorder... Great Bloody Hell, people... at first, I was speechless...

... and then, I was stunned.... how could MY demure coquette - the girl I'd spent 6 months taking cold showers for - spark an entire TEAM?... I was hurt... I was shocked... but as my disbelief slowly slipped into an accepting astonishment, I began to imagine... never in a million years would I have dreamt of such an outcome... such a turn of life's road... impossible.. incredible... and as I sat there lost in the moment of whirling possibilities, I became aware of one thing.. salient in purity... crystalline in purpose... no matter how long it may take... no matter what mountains I have to climb... I have GOT to find that video...

Hypocrisy

First let me say to any of Jack's sensitive readers, I appologize for the tone of this post. But I feel this has got to be said!

Same tired arguments, Byrd, KKK, Durbin Traitor, what the fuck ever...

Bottom Line.... And I am going to keep this short to avoid any misunderstanding or interpretation.

I am Black, I am from Virginia, I care as much about one of our old farts running around in a sheet 40 years ago, as I do about one of YOURS fucking 16 year old black maids and then denying his daughter for 70 years or whatever. So piss off on the bullshit righteous indignation over an issue you really don't give a rats ass about. Because to be honest the whole idea of conservative outrage over the racist past of a Democratic Senator is simply bullshit. (Oh my goodness, did I fart in the living room among civilized people... Forgive me!)

Conservatives in both parties have a long history or race baiting, appealing to racism and clandestine associations with Racist organizations.

The bullshit with some on the Right running around questioning people's patriotism, calling up the ancient past to condemn people who challenge them, etc. Is nothing more than a smokescreen to divert attention from a deteriorating "Last Throes," situation, and MASSIVE Problems worldwide that are not being addressed by the most incompetent Administration in recent history.

I love this bit of Disingenuous bullshit:

"And here's a major difference: Karl Rove, while he may be a political genius and the architect of many of Bush's successes, is only officially the Deputy Chief Of Staff -- an appointed position. He's a political operative at his core, not a leader. Durbin, however, is the #2 Democrat in the Senate. Rove may not exactly be a pawn and Durbin a Queen in the grand scope of things, but Durbin holds a far greater position of public trust -- and can withstand a lot less heat than Rove."

Eh Jay... Last time I checked, Durbin is a Senator from Il. He gets paid to represent his State. Rove gets paid by ALL of us, including us filthy, beatnik, Klan loving, peacenik Libruls.... Ya know? And I don't want to pay him any more.

Crossposted to ISOU.

Pork, Politics and Star wars

When the presidents chief advisor, Karl Rove, has no expertise on anything outside of politics it should be obvious that politics is a primary driver when it comes to decision making. It should also be no surprise that in an administration full of representatives from the defense industry pork barrel projects would also be a driver. Both of these come together in the bastard child of Ronald Reagan's Star Wars missile defense program.
Star Wars' Political Bull's-Eye

A Pentagon panel of outside rocketry experts was too polite to use the phrase "pie in the sky," but they might as well have in excoriating the rush to deploy an unworkable antimissile system in time for President Bush's re-election campaign. Although clearly bedeviled by test failures and unproven components, the first antimissile stations in this fantastic $130 billion-plus windfall for the defense industry were officially deployed on the West Coast last fall - just in time to cover Mr. Bush's vow in 2000 to have the system up in four years.
Predictably, the re-election was soon followed by more embarrassing test failures along this Potemkin battlement, and the Pentagon asked independent experts to examine the program. According to a Washington Post report on the classified study, the experts concluded that the rush to deployment only compounded long-running technical problems. The badly flawed system remains unable to detect or destroy an incoming missile despite the continuing billions spent on complex problems with booster rocket, radar and satellite systems.

Most scientists outside of the defense industry said that Reagan's Star Wars missile defense would never work. It still won't work and now it's not even addressing the real threat. Billions being spent on what is nothing more than corporate welfare while the security of the nations ports goes under funded.

Tom Cruise Unhinged?

The world is seeing (too much of) a new Tom Cruise -- one seemingly feeling liberated from the chains of publicitists. Are we overdosing? Here's the latest escapade (complete with a link so you can watch it and judge for yourself).

Kelo Decision Not End of World?

I picked up on Ann Althouse's observations here.

Jack asked me to guest post, and I'll pop in from time-to-time.

Answering Oliver Willis

Oliver wrote a passionate piece today on what I will call the War for America. In part he said:

The Republican party stands for nothing if they aren't demonizing the Democratic party as anti-American. They did it when Bill Clinton was President, and they've done it since the moment George Bush obtained the White House. That is what they're doing now. They've got nothing more than passing legislation that does nothing to actually help America, preferring instead to gin up the slack jawed folks who are their most ardent supporters with a neverending river of bigotry, hate, and bile. To date the left has become their enablers, preferring to play to some form of mythical "moderation" while these idiots defecate on our national foundations. Many Democrats (including myself in the past) have preferred the path of least resistance, trying to appeal to the mythical center while at the same time ignoring our core values.

We have to stop this now. In order to preserve this nation, we must stop giving in to the Republicans and their hatred of America's diversity of race, thought, ideology, and values. In the early part of the 20th century, those who championed racist hatred were in the majority. For many, the "right" thing politically would have been to walk in lockstep with the klan and their ilk. But they were wrong, and the people who supported them were wrong. We have to stand up for the right things, even if you're in the minority, even if you're not doing the politically expedient thing, because standing up for what's right is the moral thing to do.

And there are many things in his post I agree with. One of them is that we do need to fight. We need to refute the obscenity of statements like the one Rove made about Liberals. We need to STAY Focused on the DSM and its implications not only for the War in Iraq but for our international reputation as a company that believes in the rule of law. We need to speak loudly and in a unified voice against the abuses and arrogance of this administration. We need to present a vision for America that relies not on demagoguery but on a vision for all Americans, including those who we may disagree with on a variety of issues. We will NOT win this war by repackaging Republican Rhetoric with a Blue Spin. Our Approach needs to be more Obama and less Dean.

I have in the past and will continue to speak out against
"Whale," Lefty Blogs who are more concerned with their TLB Rank and advertising revenue than with supporting a unified message. Despite the fact that big lefty blogs have more traffic than Right Wing ones, it is the Right Wing Whales like "Instapundit" and "Captains Quarters," who facilitate rapid dissemination of message by creating effective Swarms.

Even though ISOU took a hit as a result of losing my archives and being offline for a month, As a top Liberal Blog I made an effort to promote smaller blogs and still do through guest blogging and Liberal Linking, (No pun intended).

Oliver is right, we do need to fight back, but we need to first unify and learn to work together, despite any differences we may have on individual issues. The fact that most of the BIG Lefty Blogs are missing from the BBA is a testament to my statement about egos in the Lefty Blogsphere. Yes I know many of them are covering the DSM, but not choosing to participate as part of a team, instead taking a KOBE (See LA Lakers) mentality. We can not fight a war when the so called ELITE of our troops choose not to join the campaign, or to fight apart from the main force.

Lastly I must add:

"Many Democrats (including myself in the past) have preferred the path of least resistance, trying to appeal to the mythical center while at the same time ignoring our core values."

Bill Clinton won two elections appealing to the "mythical center." And I don't believe the answer lies in us emulating Rabbid Dog tactics. I believe that Rhetoric is counterproductive. Instead we need to get focused on WHY our solution is better.

Update: I found this trackback from Pennywit to O's post. I find myself very much in agreement with it, especially this part:

But a couple notes of caution.

1. Willis calls the center "mythical," but it's really not as mythical as he thinks. While the political cognoscenti are certainly drifting toward the margins, Willis might find that when the political non-cognoscenti wake up for a quadrennial vote, they might not be so happy about parties that have drifted toward the margins, and they might make their displeasure known. The center isn't "mythical." It's just not discernible in non-election season, when the only audible voices emanate from paid political pros and those who are pathologically obsessed with politics.
2. If Democrats age going to be tough, that's fine, but Democrats (and I'm talking about Dean in particular) need to remember the line between "tough" and "psychotic," just like the line between "passionate" and "scare the women and horses." If Democrats cross that line often, they will go from "wimp party" to "crazy-guy-down-the-street-with-a-hundreds-of-guns-and-fifty-cats party." It's about threading the needle.

Crossposted to ISOU

Cranky quotes for the day before vacation

Any sufficiently advanced bureaucracy is indistinguishable from molasses.
   -Unknown (see Clarke's Third Law)

The secret of eternal youth is arrested development.
   -Alice Roosevelt Longworth

I'm mad as Hell...

...and I'm not going to take it any more.

I'm leaving for a two week vacation, away from everything. My job, my apartment here in France, everything.

Why?

I have similar feelings to those expressed by John Cole (although I'd have to be at the point of suicide to vote a Nader/Buchanan ticket):

Sick Of It All

I am sick of the state of American politics right now.

I am sick of the arrogance of the Republican party and the impotence of the Democrats.

I am sick of people calling people traitors or un-American or anti-military or anti-Christian because they disagree with them on issues.

I am sick of everyone distorting everyone elses positions.

I am sick of the knee-jerk Bush apologists and the knee-jerk Bush attackers.

I am sick of people calling people pussies because they think chaining someone to the floor and forcing them to lie in shit for 24 hours is over the line.

I am sick of the Supreme Court consistently ruling against the individual.

I am sick of Congress passing inane and pointless laws.

I am sick of the disgusting spending.

I am sick of the assholes in my party who think they have an absolute and perfect view of truth and morality.

Read the rest.

I won't add to his list.

Some self-labeled "conservatives" think that John Cole has "gone off the reservation" and is no longer someone who truly leans right.

Perhaps he (along with many others) hasn't drunk the kool-aid that is infecting the right-wing with the same idiotic tendencies formerly expressed mainly by the posters to the Democratic Underground.

Symmetry is an appealing virtue in Physics.

The symmetry we are now reaching in our political "philosophy" (if it can be dignified with such a term, instead of "idiocy") is beyond disgraceful.

I will say "I told you so"...

...because I did tell you, repeatedly:

China more popular than U.S. overseas

New poll finds Iraq war a key factor in tattered image of U.S.

The Associated Press
Updated: 4:49 p.m. ET June 23, 2005

WASHINGTON - The United States' image is so tattered overseas two years after the Iraq invasion that China, which is ruled by a communist dictatorship, is viewed more favorably than the U.S. in many countries, an international poll found.

Want to bet the fallout I predicted from this outcome will also come to pass?

WARNING: Those who have bet against me on almost any topic regret it.

---

An important note. I take no joy in being right about this. This does not bode well for the country I love, and the fallout from it could be the first steps to the decline of the United States as a world power.

I love my country. If I did not, I would not get so upset when I see those in power toss aside our fundamental principles at will for the sake of expedience and pandering to the extremes. Often I feel that those in power, BOTH Democrats and Republicans, have no principles nor regard for the principles that people died for to create and preserve our nation.

This is a very sad day for me.

A suitable follow-up to the passage of the anti-flag burning amendment...

...can be found here:

High court OKs personal property seizures
Majority: Local officials know how best to help cities

Thursday, June 23, 2005 Posted: 1450 GMT (2250 HKT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- -- The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses -- even against their will -- for private economic development.

It was a decision fraught with huge implications for a country with many areas, particularly the rapidly growing urban and suburban areas, facing countervailing pressures of development and property ownership rights.

The 5-4 ruling represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex. They argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas.

In other words, eminent domain now trumps private property rights, even when the private property is being seized to give to a developer so the developer can make money.

So, those of you who wonder why I always complain about expanding the power of government and my loud cries of "foul" any time I believe the basis of our rights are being eroded, do you have any questions why I make such noise?

The preservation of property rights has been a foundation for our robust economy. Without certainty, you cannot plan for the future.

China (the mainland part) seizes what would be nominally private property at whim.

We are not to that point yet, but we have started down the same road.

Government apparently now ALWAYS triumphs over the individual, because government "knows better"...

Welcome to 1984 and Animal Farm. Just pray that you are one of the animals that is more equal than the other animals.

Benign labels do not make it right

I cannot recommend more highly reading this entire post by John Cole: Durbin Wrap Up. To provide an incentive, I give you a quote that encapsulates what I have been trying to convey about the prison at Guantanamo:

The fact of the matter is, we just don't know the whole story. And no matter what the blowhards and the administration apologists (and I used to be one) say, it isn't liberal ACLU pro-terrorist anti-military crazinesss to demand the facts and to demand that we behave better than we have in the past. It isn't anti-soldier to question policy and to demand that abuses and torture aren't being conducted under our flag, even if we benignly label them 'approved interrogation techniques.'

And one more thing- Dick Durbin didn't do anything wrong- he used some stupid rhetoric. He could have used a better example, and it was stupid to include regimes as murderous as the Khmer Rouge and the Nazis in that speech, even though he didn't compare our troops to those guys. But that doesn't give us any excuse to ignore his message.

And just because I have to say it given the idiotic political climate we currently have to live in- I think the severe allegations and the deaths are an aberration, not the norm. I don't think all of our soldiers are evil and sadistic torturers. I don't know what is true and what is not, and I don't know what is considered acceptable under international norms. I, in fact, love the military and think it is the best way that we as a society spend our money. But I don't think it is stupid or slanderous or unpatriotic to have the idea that everything isn't kosher.

I wish I had the time to comment both on what Cole has written and to elaborate on my earlier writings on this topic.

This is important, and Cole provides some much-needed perspective from someone who leans to the right on the political spectrum.

My head just might explode...

...I'm in the midst of the meeting-hell-week that I mentioned in some earlier posts, so I don't have much time to write here.

Then, Congress goes and does this:

House Backs Ban On Flag Burning

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: June 23, 2005

WASHINGTON, June 22 - The House of Representatives passed a resolution on Wednesday proposing a constitutional amendment that would enable Congress to prohibit the destruction or debasement of the flag without violating free speech rights.

The vote was 286 to 130, more than the two-thirds of the members present and voting that is required to approve a proposed amendment.

I will not write the string of epithets that are running through my mind.

I only have time to write this one thing: This goes to show that at least 286 Congressmen do not understand the fundamental principles that motivated the First Amendment and the structure of Constitution itself, or if they do understand the principles, they abandon them to pander to the extremists.

This is beyond stupid.

This is beyond partisan politics.

This is attacking the foundation of our freedoms.

Something forgotten all too often

This is the devilish thing about foreign affairs: they are foreign and will not always conform to our whim.
   -James Reston

Exercising discretion

No posts from me last night (my time) for multiple reasons. I had dinner with some colleagues visiting from the United States. We had a discussion regarding the future of the industry in which we work and of our company. The uncertainty is not comfortable, nor are many of the likely scenarios.

Another reason I did not post is that I'm busy preparing for the meetings that are the reason for the visitors from the US, meetings that commence today and continue until Friday afternoon.

A third reason is in my reading on the web, I ran across something that angered me more than I have been in a long time. I decided discretion needed to be exercised and instead of reacting, I should take the time for the white hot rage to subside, take the time to determine if my emotional reaction was appropriate and consistent with the fundamentals of my beliefs, and write a response using the head, rather than the heart.

So, instead of writing, I went to bed.

Now, it's time for the meeting-fest to begin.

Guilty...

...after over four decades, the Mississippi court system worked and delivered a verdict: conviction on three counts of manslaughter.

It took far, far too long.

We are experiencing technical difficulties

The Mac died again.

This time, it IS the hard drive, because the "SMART" status came up with the "He's dead, Jim" notice, along with helpful advice to back up my files immediately if the drive is still working "somewhat".

It ain't working at all.

I'm a wee bit frustrated over this.

A historic event to note...

...with a full understanding of the difference between historic and historical.

On this date in 1948, the Berlin Airlift began, arguably the first direct confrontation of the two postwar hegemonies established in the wake of World War II in Europe.

History is more complicated than the simple narratives we are taught in our elementary and high schools, more complicated than what little we learn while sitting bored in our college history courses.

Our lack of understanding of the fundamentals, the causes of events, the reasons for the outcomes of wars, the imbalances that cause empires to fail, and the origins of new conflicts, our callowness in decision making arises from the wellspring of our ignorance, all of this will cost us far more than we realize.

Simplistic assumptions and shallow analyses are no longer sufficient in a world that has long ceased to be bipolar.

In every unipolar case from human history, the origins of the decline of the dominant power were obvious, even at the time, to those who were willing to look outside their own point of view.

Can we overcome history?

My hope is we can.

My analysis, and my fear, is that we will repeat the history of decline of empire, in other words our decline, with surprising speed.

Do your own research.

Come to your own conclusions.

Then act upon them to stem the decline if you foresee what I do.

Technorati Tags: commentary

I agree...

...with the sentiment expressed in this post by John Cole at Balloon Juice.

Enough time has passed since the start of this damned war in Iraq, regardless of what you think of the origins or reasons, that we should have fully equipped with body armor each and every person we have asked to risk their lives in Iraq for us.

Excuse my blunt language, but what the fuck is the procurement problem here?

This IS NOT a partisan issue.

We are paying a HELL of a lot of money in taxes to provide our military with what they need.

Why the FUCK do they NOT HAVE IT without having to spend their own money?

Someone, somewhere, NEEDS to be held accountable for this.

And, as is usual, NO ONE will be.

Technorati Tags: opinion

I've about had it with the Ecosystem...

...I've joined the first. and likely only, weblog alliance I will ever be a part of, the Raging RINOs, the Republicans / Independents Not Overdosed (on the Party Kool Aid).

The bloody Ecosystem won't recognize my latest posts and add them to the "recent posts" column on the RINO Alliance page.

Bloody freaking Hell.

Isn't living in a place where there are a bunch of folks who don't believe in deodorant or antiperspirant bad enough without having these time-zone issues with weblogs?

Argh!!!!!!!!!!

Technorati Tags: weblogs

A bit disappointed

I intermittently have problems connecting to Pennywit's blog; I have no idea why.

Today was another of those days. My newsreaders had managed to download the headlines, but I couldn't reach the associated posts. There was a post titled "Downing Street Minutes matter" that I thought had been written by Pennywit himself, because up until now only one other person who commented or set up their own blog at Pennywit's Drupal site had made it to the front page and the RSS feed, and I knew the other person would never, ever have a post with that title.

Upon finally being able to connect to the site, I discover that Pennywit has a new contributor with the nom de plume The Impolitic. He introduces himself with the post in question.

No problem.

Then I read the post.

His general thesis is just fine, it is not excessively partisan, although it does come from a certain point of view. However, when he asserts with no supporting statements or links, "But the DSM are not about solving the Iraq quagmire; they're about preventing future foreign policy blunders based on corporate interests rather the public good," I must cry foul.

I have read much of what has been posted on the documents in question, and I see nowhere in these documents or in any credible source reporting on them that they show any link with so-called "corporate interests".

I do have concerns regarding how the energy policies of the current administration do seem to have been excessively influenced by the energy/oil industry, but I have yet to see any even marginal evidence that "corporate interests" had a large influence on the march to war in Iraq.

So, links or other supporting statements to this assertion are required to be consistent with the standards Pennywit has established by his analyses that, while originating from a certain point of view, are not without external support.

Hence my disappointment.

I hope the future contributions from The Impolitic at Pennywit do not repeat this omission.

Technorati Tags: commentary, weblogs

Testing, testing...

I'm testing something out, so ignore this post.

Or not, but there's nothing of substance here. Less than what's between Britney Spears ears...

---

UPDATE: Bloody Hell... it didn't work. Even LESS to see here now.

Technorati Tags: ignore

Take the time necessary to do it well...

...and if it doesn't need to be done well, does it need to be done at all?

I'm a wee bit busy, so in lieu of a long post that I don't have time to write well, I'll refer you to some posts that even if you disagree with their points and politics, at the least they are well-written.

Because they are well-written, with at least some indication that time and effort were both put into the writing, I find their positions at the least worth considering and not dismissing out of hand, as I am inclined to do with a similar level of partisanship that is not well-written.

satire used to make a political point

rampant partisanship that is still entertaining to read

asking a question and not turning it into a diatribe

explaining simply why an idea is bad without name-calling

I'll spare you the countless counterexamples of good writing that I encounter every day.

Technorati Tags: recommended reading

From a man who had a strange path in life

Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something.
   -Pancho Villa, last words

Technorati Tags: quotes

Tell them

Contrarian I am, as John of Argghhh! likes to point out, I have no desire put up yet another Father's Day post.

I am the product of both of my parents, and I love them both. I call them every week and talk with them to tell them so.

I am who I am because of them, and I am happy with who I am. I thank them both for it, directly when I speak with them, because I believe it is important to say these things.

One of the best things for me to hear is when someone I love, such as my parents, tell me they are proud of me. Fortunately, my mother never hesitates to tell me how proud they both are of me, and always tells me when my father tells her how much he thinks of me. My father rarely says this to me directly because it is not in his nature, nor was that kind of openness a part of his generation, nor the generation before.

So my message is this:

No matter who the others are in your life that you care about, tell them how much you love them and the good things you think of them.

If your parents are still alive, tell them how much you appreciate all they taught you.

If you are a parent, tell them, your children, how proud you are of them.

If you have a significant other, tell them what it is about them that you love.

No matter who it is, tell them you love them, and tell them what makes them special, and what makes you proud to know them.

Tell them.

Don't wait for a special day, don't wait for tomorrow, don't wait for the supposed "right time", you never know when you may no longer be able to tell them.

So tell them, now, and every chance you get.

Tell them.

Otherwise, they may never truly know.

Technorati Tags: personal

A day in the park in the heart of Grenoble

No, I'm not pretending I'm a great film maker, nor is the quality of the movies my digital camera makes that impressive, but here's a 30 second AVI of the day in the park next to my apartment that I was describing before, the sound you hear is of a group performing African-based music (a change from the Mexican music I heard earlier in the day):

Click on the image to get to the movie.

Technorati Tags: letters from Europe, photos

For me, for now

Despite the certainty that next week will consist of major idiocies on the work front that will frustrate me to no end, I'm having a good day.

The sun is shining here in Grenoble.

There is a band playing what sounds to be Mexican music in the park next to my apartment.

In one week I go on a two week long vacation.

I've been invited to a party tonight to celebrate the 40th birthday of one of the people in my French class.

And, best of all, I am now the proud owner of a pound of cheddar cheese! (Europeans outside of England apparently do not consider cheddar real cheese, they barely consider it even edible, so it is extremely difficult for me to find any in the stores here in France, I bought my last batch in Prague).

So for me, for now, life is good.

Those of who know me in person probably need to close the mouths that I'm sure are gaping in astonishment, because I know that none of them have ever heard me say that.

No more posts for a while, I'm going outside to enjoy the day. I might hook up a microphone to my Mac and record the band and take a photo to give you a flavor of the day.

Or maybe not.

Either way, time to go outside.

Technorati Tags: personal

More photos from Prague

I promised more photos from Prague, here are a few. As always, click on the images below for a larger photo. More are on the way.

The earlier photos are here:

Inside Saint Vitius cathedral

Memorial to all those whose lives were ruined or lost because of Communism

First, for those who forget, Budweiser is not an American name, and the Budweiser beer in Prague is much, MUCH better than the beer sold beneath that name in the US.

Next, some skyline photos:

A view from a church tower of a famous bridge (the name of which I forget, I'll look it up...), which you can see is completely packed with people:

A view across the river to what I believe is the Prague Opera House:

And finally, some graffiti making a pointed political statement, written on the wall of a School for the Graphic Arts (there's a pun in there, somewhere):

More to come, along with photos from Paris.

Technorati Tags: letters from Europe, photos

An assortment of quotes

At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
   -Friedrich Nietzsche

If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the military, nothing is safe.
   -Lord Salisbury

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.
   -Douglas Adams

Technorati Tags: quotes

I had to repeat this...

We don't handle randomness well.
   -Dr. Lucy Jones, scientist in charge of the Southern California office of the U.S. Geological Survey

Technorati Tags: quotes

This quote intrigued me

If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify Him. They would ask Him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of it.
   -Thomas Carlyle

Technorati Tags: quotes

A question that I would like to see answered honestly

While I am working on my post "Weaving it all together", I see that I have been misunderstood and misinterpreted to the point where I need to make an interim clarification (I'm sure I'll have to make a clarification again after I state what I believe unequivocally in a manner I will mistakenly think is coherently expressed and understandable by those willing to think instead of react) regarding my views upon Guantanamo.

I am not going to try to define "torture" here.

I will merely ask this question:

What would be your reaction if you heard of this "stress treatment" being applied to members of the US Armed Forces or any American being held prisoner by anyone?

Be careful how you answer my question. What would YOUR reaction be if you heard of an American prisoner being treated in this manner?

What would you write in your weblog?

Be honest, for the only one who will know you if you are lying is yourself, the harshest critic, the most unforgiving judge, the one who will condemn you to restless nights and uneasy days.

Then wonder, based upon your reaction of if the recipient of this benignly-labeled "stress treatment" was an American, soldier or civilian, reason out for yourself whether this treatment of any enemy is the act of a nation of honor.

If you are capable of holding more than one point of view in your mind without going into mental gridlock, then perhaps, just perhaps, you might be able to escape a partisan point of view and understand a larger world.

If that sounds condescending, then you have gotten my point, a gold star for you. I will no longer write pablum suitable for the lowest common denominator.

Use your mind, not your gut...

Technorati Tags: commentary, personal

Unintentional cultural irony of the day...

I had to take a "Occupational Health and Safety" class today, after having been on site here in France for over a year.

As the instructor, a woman, said, "You must not dress in shorts when you come to work, you must dress professionally," I could not help but notice the 10+ inch gap between the bottom of her shirt and the top of her jeans, not the largest I've observed since higher temperatures have arrived here, nor the lowest-waisted pants I have had the pleasure to observe on women, among the other, shall we name them revealing fashions associated with warmer temperatures here in the southern portion of France.

At least 8 inches of this particular gap in the dress of the instructor lecturing on dressing professionally was between her navel and the top of her jeans, with all the exposure that implies...

As I said, an unintentional cultural irony upon what is "dressing professionally", at least as viewed by an American male.

Technorati Tags: observations on France

A point of agreement

When ATC Joe writes this, I agree:

I'm not saying the evangelicals are bad, or that they have some sort of organized program to intimidate people into endorsing their views, but they do have a tendency to overreach when they meet with some success in their agenda. I'm convinced a large part of what the public sees as overreach on the part of the Bush administration is driven by the administration's own evangelicals, or the debt they feel they owe them for their support in last year's election.

This is a mistake, and it's one that's not going to be easy to fix. A public disavowal of the evangelical bloc at this time would hurt the administration severely.

Such a break needs to happen, though, and it's something that can't be done too quickly. The gradual nature of this distancing is one of the factors that leads me to believe the next administration will be led by a Democrat. That has ramifications I don't like, but it may be what's necessary to bring conservatism back to it's roots, which is something I'd certainly like to see.

I do believe that conservatism has lost its roots, and it sorely needs to move back towards them for the good of our nation.

Technorati Tags: opinion

It is time for you to decide the future you want

NOTE: Since this post has apparently been misunderstood by at least one, there appears to be a need for clarification. Consider this an FYI for those of you who think this is a commentary on the outcome of the Schiavo matter, for it is not.

For the record, I was opposed to those who pressured Congress to intervene in the matter, and I was opposed to those who said "life at any costs" even at the expense of the "sanctity of marriage" that those same folks proclaim when it suits them.

To make it explicit for those unable to get the gist, it is a commentary on the unyielding, unreasoning attitudes being shown by the extremists of all stripes.

If I need to be more plain-spoken, you need to go read elsewhere. I have neither the time nor the inclination to hold your hand any further.

---

The results of the Schiavo autopsy were released today.

I will not review them.

Why?

Because most have made up their minds, regardless of the facts, and will not change their views, regardless of the facts.

In other words, we have gone far beyond reasonable debate.

We refuse to acknowledge that those who do not think exactly as we do are human, just as we are, and in that refusal, we take the first steps upon a path all too well trodden.

What is left when reasonable debate is abandoned, opponents dehumanized and demonized, and passions allowed to reign free?

The answer given in 1861 in North America was organized murderous slaughter.

The answer given in 1941 in Germany was efficiently-organized murderous slaughter.

The answer given in 1991 in Bosnia-Hertzegovina was quasi-organized murderous slaughter.

The answer given in 1994 in Rwanda was barely-organised murderous slaughter.

The answer given in 2001 in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania was murderous slaughter.

The answer given in 2004 and continuing today in Darfur is murderous slaughter.

What is your answer to what is left after you choose to ignore facts and refuse reasonable debate?

Be honest, because the only one you are lying to is yourself.

Be sure you can look in the mirror into your own eyes with the answer you give, because your answer reflects upon you, not upon the one who asks the question...

Technorati Tags: opinion

Confusion regarding writing, and a concurrence upon the role of government in "marriage"

John Cole, at Balloon Juice, has had a similar problem as I believe I have had recently, where what I wrote was confused and misinterpreted to mean something different, and this applies to topics beyond that of "gay marriage" which John Cole refers to in his post.

Regarding the confusion, he writes:

I think you can chalk up part of the confusion to my rambling prose and my splenetic writing style (it has been said the written language here at Balloon Juice is 'high dudgeon,' and toss in the fact that I have written so many damn posts on these topics that it may seem like I think all those things. But it just ain't the case.

I cannot find a better way to express what I feel has happened in the case of my writing, especially in the cases where those I feel are good friends have not interpreted what I wrote in the spirit that the posts were written.

Regarding the topic (and confusion/misrepresentation/misquoting) that prompted the post by John Cole, his summary very well encapsulates what I believe regarding this "issue" which in my mind is a non-issue if we are to remain true to our fundamentals behind our Constitution:

And for the record, if I could have my way, I wouldn't have government legalizing gay marriages- I wouldn't have the government granting any marriages. I would like the government in the civil union business, and gays and straights would be treated just the same, with the same rights. Churches could then grant marriages, and be free to decide whether or not their sect wants to grant gay marriages.

All I can add is, "What he said."

Technorati Tags: fundamentals, opinion

Setting standards, and staying faithful to them

From the Dartmouth 2005 Spring Commencement address by Tom Brokaw:

I am humbled by the sacrifices that so many of you have made to help you to this promising place in your lives. Your family, your teachers, and some that you may not have considered, especially on a sunlit morning here in Hanover in early June. As we gather here today there are young men and women your age in uniform, in far-off places, in harm's way, dedicating their lives to your security and you must remember them on this occasion as well.

I am envious of what you will carry from here - more than the degree or honors, what you will come to treasure are the friendships and the fellowship, some of which will accompany you all the rest of your days. I envy you as well, of course, the thrill of exploring frontiers of knowledge while rediscovering and re-examining ancient truths.

Most of all, I envy you the road ahead on the 21st century, with its transformation technology, emerging democracies, developing economies, shifting power centers and yes, lethal cultural conflicts that demand attention and resolution.

These are the themes of commencement speeches across a broad spectrum of campuses this spring and I am fully prepared to expand on them momentarily. But first, I am compelled to offer somewhat lofty, but I hope useful, observations. You have been hearing all of your life about this moment - your first big step into what you have been called and told is the real world. What, you may be asking yourself this morning, is this real life all about? Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2005 at Dartmouth, it's not college - it's not high school. Real life is junior high.

The world you're about to enter is filled with adolescent pettiness, pubescent rivalries, the insecurities of 13-year-olds and the false bravado of 14-year-olds. Forty years from now, I guarantee it, you'll still be making silly mistakes, you'll have a temper tantrum, you'll have your feelings hurt for some trivial slight, you'll say something dumb and at least once a week you'll wonder, "Will I ever grow up?"

You can change that. In pursuit of passions, always be young. In your relationship with others, always be a grown-up. Set a standard and stay faithful to it.

I really like his comments about what they world they are about to enter is filled with... "adolescent pettiness, pubescent rivalries, the insecurities of 13-year-olds and the false bravado of 14-year-olds."

In my 40 trips around the sun, that's what I've seen far more often than not, only getting worse as time passes and society supposedly "progresses".

There is more to this, however.

I know I frustrate many people much of the time.

I have personal standards that I try my best to stay faithful towards, and I have standards I was taught when I was a child that my nation is supposed to hold, standards that when violated that I cry havoc.

Be careful what you teach the children, because some of them believe in ideals, and grow up into people like me who are willing to point out when the emperor has no clothes.

---

Thanks to Goemagog at Incite for the stimulation of thought by his(?) linking to the speech.

Technorati Tags: personal, recommended reading

An eternal ache verbalized

From Bloggledygook:

Few, if any, women realize how profoundly they affect their men; whether sons or lovers, fathers or brothers or husbands, we are much more vulnerable and attached than we care to admit. Women connect. And once those connections are made, distance becomes both an illusion and a formality.

I have nothing to say other than read it all...

Technorati Tags: recommended reading

Weaving it all together

I've been challenged directly by some and indirectly by others to pull everything together, to explain explicitly where I am coming from.

I thought I had been clear.

It appears I was mistaken.

Because of my error regarding my clarity, I am working on a long post that should clarify most questions I have received either in comments, by email, by direct challenges in other weblogs, or by indirect references also in other weblogs.

It will take me several days to complete it. Until then, I ask your patience. I do have a day job that does require more than a small measure of my intellectual energy, and with a semi-annual pow-wow for the sole benefit of big-wigs coming up, I'm having to find dogs and ponies for the show, which ain't always easy.

Technorati Tags: weblogs

Frustration

I had a very bad day in speaking and understanding French today, after a few weeks of marked improvement in my skills with that language.

I am discovering new levels of frustration...

Technorati Tags: personal

Some random cynical quotes

Love is like an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties.
   -Jules Renard

I put it down as a fact that if all men knew what each said of the other, there would not be four friends left in the world.
   -Pascal

Technorati Tags: quotes

It cannot be history until you stop living it... Part II

I hadn't planned to write upon this topic.

However, the Commissar at The Politburo Diktat has stimulated in my mind a few thoughts I feel need to be said.

First however, I present the topic that stimulated this writing, then some history.

The topic:

The resolution on lynching passed today is being used by some very prominent bloggers on the left-wing to attack Republicans who did not co-sponsor the bill, despite the fact that the passage was unanimous.

With his typical, honorable self-consistency, the Commissar condemns this invocation of lynching by the left to score political points just as he did a prior summons of this horrific imagery that was utilized by the right.

A personal aside here, there are times I get so disgusted with what I read in blogworld I am tempted to walk away from this strange yet enthralling occupation completely. Then I find someone as honorable and self-consistent as Stephen, aka the Commissar, and it reaffirms my faith that there are more than a few out there who are not blinded to the point of insanity by their point of view.

To return from the personal aside, using the "non-sponsorship" of a bill seems rather weak as a way of attacking a Senator of a particular party, especially when there were members of BOTH parties on the "non-sponsorship" list.

What about the history I mentioned?

The history is personal.

I have written about this long ago, I'm not even sure it remains in the archives of this weblog due to my changing hosts and configurations a few times, so it bears repeating here.

The name of the town I grew up in was Southaven, incorporated as an actual town the year I graduated high school, before that it was a mere development named by a group of builders seeking to attract buyers.

Why the name Southaven?

It was south of a development in Tennessee named Whitehaven, right at the state line between Tennessee and Mississippi, built in the mid to late 1960s; a development the nature of which was changing during the 1970s when Southaven was created.

I will not insult your intelligence by saying why Whitehaven was named as it was, just outside the city limits of Memphis, Tennessee, in that turbulent era.

Such was the environment in which I was raised.

The year before I graduated high school, signs appeared around town telling of a KKK meeting in the grounds behind the Jaycee building, an intense irony if you know of the mission of the Jaycees.

This isn't to condemn the Jaycees, however. I want to give an indication of the tenor of the times, even in 1980, in a supposedly more enlightened age that supposedly followed in the South upon the heels of the racist 1960s.

When I was a Boy Scout, I heard Scoutmasters routinely use a word once commonly used in the South of the United states to refer to people of dark skin color, the word that I find more offensive than any curse word in the English language. A word I cannot bring myself to type, and the thought of saying aloud brings to mind the taste of shit in my mouth. The only word that brings to mind such strong negative and offensive feelings in me.

What needs to be said?

It is this:

Now, as an adult in the early years of the 21st century, I see political hay being made utilizing the apologies for the absence of condemnation of atrocious behavior towards people, unforgivable acts performed solely because of the color of the skin of those people.

I hear people using the same atrocious word in a compound with "sand" to describe Arabs because a small number of Arabs have managed to perpetrate horrific acts that resulted in the deaths of over 4000 people, deaths of people who were not solely Americans.

I see people using the acts of a few to condemn the whole of a race, of a people, of a religion, as if the acts of individuals were sufficient to convict all. If that criterion were followed, then Western Civilization, the origin of those condemning others now, would have been eliminated half a millennium ago.

I read people with a bare grasp of simple arithmetic trying to use complex, multi-layered data presented in the form