Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Obama's Speech on Iraq, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Eugene Robinson
John Bolton

"Wars no longer end with surrender ceremonies and ticker-tape parades. They end in a fog of ambiguity, and it's easier to discern what's been sacrificed than what's been gained." - Eugene Robinson

In lieu of celebration to the end of the Iraqi War as-we-know-it, every pundit has published their opinions. I offer one with the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, ever the voice of reason and stable thinking. Barack Obama will give his speech, and already the conservative blowhards are on the attack. Well, Bush was asked, and he declined, so it's left to the Johns to provide the fireworks. John Bolton, whose greatest assets were that he was so abusive to his employees that he routinely made secretaries cry and quit, published a polemic in the Daily Beast, of all places. If you like the shameless reinterpretation of history, then Bolton's your man. I wonder why people are paying him money for his articles lately, who is really behind trying to reinvigorate his career. Astoundingly, based on a few articles published in the Rupert Murdoch Wall Street journal, all of a sudden John Bolton is bandied about as presidential candidate material? Maybe Rupert feels the need to own a president at least once before he dies...?

At least the Iraqis are trying to make the best of the situation, with mini-Saddam Nuri al-Maliki issuing a statement saying that this now presents a wonderful opportunity for all Iraqis, to make a society the way that they envision it, and create a government that will be held as an example to the region, as long as he is still in charge...

The summer is going pretty much as I had predicted, though thankfully, without the nuking of Iran and the ensuing war that it would bring about. Last summer we had the tea party rallies in the parks, where people gathered to make racist signs and chant incredibly ugly and mean slogans aimed at Obama. Later, many tea party organizers, who hoped to make a living if not some money off off the erstwhile grass roots groups, protested a little too loudly when called out for it, and people like Andrew Breitbart made crap up to support his viewpoint.

This summer, the ugliness has a more focused edge, aimed more directly at American Muslims, and I'm afraid that more violence will be forthcoming. Even though Wall Street touts how much money its making again, the jobs here on the local level are not materializing. People who no longer have any incoming income get frustrated, depressed, loss of any self-worth, and start looking around for any scapegoat they can take their transformed anger out on.  Here in Colorado Springs the suicide rate has risen dramatically, with everyone from teens to senior citizens lighting up the prevention hot lines. We have a suicide rate much higher than anywhere else in the country, and that's separate from the military suicides.

Some say its because we live in the shadow of Pike's Peak, some say it's from all of the overbearing military influence, some say its from the lizards invading your mind and turning your thoughts... hearing any voices lately? I admit to feeling depressed this summer. I am living on disability and can barely contribute economically to my sister and brother-in-law, my sister is slowly dying, she currently has pneumonia that seems to be getting worse. I have entertained the thought of wandering off this winter and taking a long nap in the snow, but then get brought back to reality by the realization that I have to take care of my cat for awhile longer... So, the thoughts of taking your own life or lashing out and taking others can spread like a viral disease. Can we make it the extra five or six years until the economy upswing trickles down and we can turn in a job application. In an ideal world, I could trade places with Senator Simpson, at least let him live for a few months in my shoes, the arrogant bastard.




I admit that I was reading a book last night that catalogued all of the mean things done and said during the Barack Obama campaign, and that negativity has skewed my perception today. It's appalling how freaking narrow minded so much of our population is. Even people I meet here in Colorado, who consider themselves fairly rational and liberal-minded often show racial insensitivity in their speech, mainly because they have spent their whole lives around others like themselves and never hung out or made friends with anyone from different ethnicities. Maybe we're doomed to clash with every culture we encounter, and this melting pot theory is just that - some obscure ideal that can never work in reality. Ah, how I burn and rage...

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.  

                                        - Dylan Thomas      

Obama's Speech on Iraq, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Eugene Robinson
John Bolton

"Wars no longer end with surrender ceremonies and ticker-tape parades. They end in a fog of ambiguity, and it's easier to discern what's been sacrificed than what's been gained." - Eugene Robinson

In lieu of celebration to the end of the Iraqi War as-we-know-it, every pundit has published their opinions. I offer one with the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, ever the voice of reason and stable thinking. Barack Obama will give his speech, and already the conservative blowhards are on the attack. Well, Bush was asked, and he declined, so it's left to the Johns to provide the fireworks. John Bolton, whose greatest assets were that he was so abusive to his employees that he routinely made secretaries cry and quit, published a polemic in the Daily Beast, of all places. If you like the shameless reinterpretation of history, then Bolton's your man. I wonder why people are paying him money for his articles lately, who is really behind trying to reinvigorate his career. Astoundingly, based on a few articles published in the Rupert Murdoch Wall Street journal, all of a sudden John Bolton is bandied about as presidential candidate material? Maybe Rupert feels the need to own a president at least once before he dies...?

The summer is going pretty much as I had predicted, though thankfully, without the nuking of Iran and the ensuing war that it would bring about. Last summer we had the tea party rallies in the parks, where people gathered to make racist signs and chant incredibly ugly and mean slogans aimed at Obama. Later, many tea party organizers, who hoped to make a living if not some money off off the erstwhile grass roots groups, protested a little too loudly when called out for it, and people like Andrew Breitbart made crap up to support his viewpoint.

This summer, the ugliness has a more focused edge, aimed more directly at American Muslims, and I'm afraid that more violence will be forthcoming. Even though Wall Street touts how much money its making again, the jobs here on the local level are not materializing. People who no longer have any incoming income get frustrated, depressed, loss of any self-worth, and start looking around for any scapegoat they can take their transformed anger out on.  Here in Colorado Springs the suicide rate has risen dramatically, with everyone from teens to senior citizens lighting up the prevention hot lines. We have a suicide rate much higher than anywhere else in the country, and that's separate from the military suicides.

Some say its because we live in the shadow of Pike's Peak, some say it's from all of the overbearing military influence, some say its from the lizards invading your mind and turning your thoughts... hearing any voices lately? I admit to feeling depressed this summer. I am living on disability and can barely contribute economically to my sister and brother-in-law, my sister is slowly dying, she currently has pneumonia that seems to be getting worse. I have entertained the thought of wandering off this winter and taking a long nap in the snow, but then get brought back to reality by the realization that I have to take care of my cat for awhile longer... So, the thoughts of taking your own life or lashing out and taking others can spread like a viral disease. Can we make it the extra five or six years until the economy upswing trickles down and we can turn in a job application. In an ideal world, I could trade places with Senator Simpson, at least let him live for a few months in my shoes, the arrogant bastard.




I admit that I was reading a book last night that catalogued all of the mean things done and said during the Barack Obama campaign, and that negativity has skewed my perception today. It's appalling how freaking narrow minded so much of our population is. Even people I meet here in Colorado, who consider themselves fairly rational and liberal-minded often show racial insensitivity in their speech, mainly because they have spent their whole lives around others like themselves and never hung out or made friends with anyone from different ethnicities. Maybe we're doomed to clash with every culture we encounter, and this melting pot theory is just that - some obscure ideal that can never work in reality. Ah, how I burn and rage...

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.  

                                        - Dylan Thomas      

Monday, August 30, 2010

Glenn's Religious Epiphany, Oliver North and Paris Hilton Our Next Iranian Negotiators?

Paul Krugman
EJ Dionne Jr
“I can’t spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead,” - Barack Obama
"The president has chosen not to engage the nation in an extended dialogue about what holds all of his achievements together, or why his attitude toward government makes more sense than the scattershot conservative attacks on everything Washington might do to improve the nation's lot." - EJ dionne Jr-
"And we felt some sympathy for the Tea Party types who want to march on Frankenstein’s castle and burn it down. If they ever have the misfortune to get into power, they will discover how much of the problem stems from the sloth, complacency, ignorance and incompetence of ordinary Americans. " - David Goldman

Well, now that we have had our honor restored this past weekend, how are you feeling? Not even the teensiest holier-than-thou? I'm still trying to figure out the purpose behind Glenn Beck's three hour rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial, it's a puzzle. Because I want to ascribe to something nobler than a giant ego trip for Mr Beck, who had hinted at being delusional, hearing voices inside of his head. He was hoping for something more, too, that the voices yelling at him would materialize,and we would all proclaim that we had witnessed a miracle... And now, he will spend the next few weeks trying to wring something substantial out of the whole, boring mess. Serving of stone soup, anyone?

When the Palestinian negotiations begin in Washington, Mr Obama should lock Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu in a room and not let them out until it is done. Thank God that Bibi doesn't keep kosher in his meals... Despite the cynical observations of every other interested party, there is a 50-50% chance that it might work. A workable Palestinian state might be considered a miracle,  hopefully it signifies that the two parties have matured into kinder, gentler politicians who no longer will get their shorts tied into knots at the slightest perceived offense... Stranger things have happened, Richard Nixon is still celebrated in China for his visit, he is still toasted as having been a great friend to the people of China. If that can happen, why not have history's moving finger write that these miserably vain, shallow men were friends of the Palestinian and Israeli people? I wonder what kind of beer Obama will serve everyone?

And if the Palestinians and Israelis can sit down and be polite, why not also sit down and talk civilly with Iran and North Korea? Instead of them being the major hub of the axis of evil, why can't they become our next hub of best-friends-forever? "That's hot!" as Paris Hilton would say, if she were out of jail. Again. I'm sure that Iran secretly yearns for the good old days, when they could buy US arms to help the cause of freedom fighters throughout Central America. And why not let someone like that treasonous old snake Oliver North, who looks like Mel Gibson's deranged twin these days, redeem himself and be our point man in Tehran once again for such delicate and sensitive matters... We could send both Ollie and Paris in as a team, and film it for reality television. I'd pay to see them in a room with the Iranian top brass. Throw in Joe Biden and Rand Paul, now, that's entertainment, right Hillary?...





I just realized that if Sarah Palin were to get herself elected as our next president, she truly would become our first socialistic president. Her first action as president would be to give everyone their own Facebook account, so that she can communicate to us... Smaller government can mean not having a press secretary...

If Rand Paul gets elected, what kind of verbal fighting would he get into with his dad? We know that all sons are rebellious towards their fathers once they are grown up, so what would happen if Ron and Rand began to spar on the floor of Congress? Would Rand shut up if his father told him to? Another reason to make sure that your cable company is broadcasting CSPAN...

What if all of the tea party candidates got elected, and then declined to join the Tea Party Caucus? Chairwoman Michele Bachmann would have to drink her Earl Grey alone...

If the Republicans won a majority in this mid-term election, and John Boehner took over Nancy Pelosi's office, would he debate Barack Obama? That would be a fun thing to watch, they could debate on television every Friday night, a five or ten-minute segment that could be attached to your favorite news show. Of course, as the weeks go by, John would appear less and less sober, perhaps his orange would crack and begin to peel...

Glenn's Religious Epiphany, Oliver North and Paris Hilton Our Next Iran Negotiators?

Paul Krugman
EJ Dionne Jr
“I can’t spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead,” - Barack Obama
"The president has chosen not to engage the nation in an extended dialogue about what holds all of his achievements together, or why his attitude toward government makes more sense than the scattershot conservative attacks on everything Washington might do to improve the nation's lot." - EJ dionne Jr-
"And we felt some sympathy for the Tea Party types who want to march on Frankenstein’s castle and burn it down. If they ever have the misfortune to get into power, they will discover how much of the problem stems from the sloth, complacency, ignorance and incompetence of ordinary Americans. " - David Goldman

Well, now that we have had our honor restored this past weekend, how are you feeling? Not even the teensiest holier-than-thou? I'm still trying to figure out the purpose behind Glenn Beck's three hour rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial, it's a puzzle. Because I want to ascribe to something nobler than a giant ego trip for Mr Beck, who had hinted at being delusional, hearing voices inside of his head. He was hoping for something more, too, that the voices yelling at him would materialize,and we would all proclaim that we had witnessed a miracle... And now, he will spend the next few weeks trying to wring something substantial out of the whole, boring mess. Serving of stone soup, anyone?

When the Palestinian negotiations begin in Washington, Mr Obama should lock Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu in a room and not let them out until it is done. Thank God that Bibi doesn't keep kosher in his meals... Despite the cynical observations of every other interested party, there is a 50-50% chance that it might work. A workable Palestinian state might be considered a miracle,  hopefully it signifies that the two parties have matured into kinder, gentler politicians who no longer will get their shorts tied into knots at the slightest perceived offense... Stranger things have happened, Richard Nixon is still celebrated in China for his visit, he is still toasted as having been a great friend to the people of China. If that can happen, why not have history's moving finger write that these miserably vain, shallow men were friends of the Palestinian and Israeli people? I wonder what kind of beer Obama will serve everyone?

And if the Palestinians and Israelis can sit down and be polite, why not also sit down and talk civilly with Iran and North Korea? Instead of them being the major hub of the axis of evil, why can't they become our next hub of best-friends-forever? "That's hot!" as Paris Hilton would say, if she were out of jail. Again. I'm sure that Iran secretly yearns for the good old days, when they could buy US arms to help the cause of freedom fighters throughout Central America. And why not let someone like that treasonous old snake Oliver North, who looks like Mel Gibson's deranged twin these days, redeem himself and be our point man in Tehran once again for such delicate and sensitive matters... We could send both Ollie and Paris in as a team, and film it for reality television. I'd pay to see them in a room with the Iranian top brass. Throw in Joe Biden and Rand Paul, now, that's entertainment, right Hillary?...





I just realized that if Sarah Palin were to get herself elected as our next president, she truly would become our first socialistic president. Her first action as president would be to give everyone their own Facebook account, so that she can communicate to us... Smaller government can mean not having a press secretary...

If Rand Paul gets elected, what kind of verbal fighting would he get into with his dad? We know that all sons are rebellious towards their fathers once they are grown up, so what would happen if Ron and Rand began to spar on the floor of Congress? Would Rand shut up if his father told him to? Another reason to make sure that your cable company is broadcasting CSPAN...

What if all of the tea party candidates got elected, and then declined to join the Tea Party Caucus? Chairwoman Michele Bachmann would have to drink her Earl Grey alone...

If the Republicans won a majority in this mid-term election, and John Boehner took over Nancy Pelosi's office, would he debate Barack Obama? That would be a fun thing to watch, they could debate on television every Friday night, a five or ten-minute segment that could be attached to your favorite news show. Of course, as the weeks go by, John would appear less and less sober, perhaps his orange would crack and begin to peel...

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Beck OutFoxes Them All, Egypt Captures 190 Rockets Wandering In Sinai

Dana Milbank
Matt Lewis

"Blacks don't own Martin Luther King," - Glenn Beck
"Hello, you sick twisted freak." - Glenn Beck
"You know, we all have our inner demons. I, for one — I can't speak for you, but I'm on the verge of moral collapse at any time. It can happen by the end of the show." - Glenn Beck
"I could give a flying crap about the political process.... We're an entertainment company." - Glenn Beck


By the time I finish typing this paragraph, the Glenn Beck rally at the Lincoln Memorial will have ended. For Glenn, it was a big success, with thousands of people attending on a beautiful morning. It certainly was the most debated rally, mostly over the chutzpah of having the rally on the anniversary that Martin Luther King gave his famous speech at the same location. Glenn claimed that it was a coincidence, that he didn't know until a staff researcher informed him. A pundit who is also a college professor said that it is possible that Glenn was ignorant of the significance of the date, especially the way that history is taught in schools these days... I have to admit that I wasn't aware of the date either, until this flap was reported in the news. And I find it interesting that none of the followers of Martin Luther King bothered to plan any rally at the Lincoln Memorial until after Glenn started making noise about it. Also interesting is how the Reverend Al Sharpton, once considered a wacky fringe personality, has become a mainstream representative for Black issues.

Even though Glenn tried to draw parallels between his rally and King's ideals in the weeks leading up to the rally, he wisely did not mention anything about it during his own speech. In fact, I'm not really sure why Glenn had this rally other than to physically prove his popularity. And Sarah Palin's. It wasn't supposed to be a political rally, but it was. Most of the people interviewed gave a vague, politically oriented answer as to why they attended. It was supposed to be a tea party rally, but it wasn't. There weren't many signs other than "Don't Tread On Me," which is every anarchists favorite flag and phrase, dating back to the glory days of protesting, the '60's... The closest thing that Glenn approached, was a religious and moral tone, except he was the only one preaching to the choir.
"Something beyond imagination is happening. America today begins to turn back to God. For too long, this country has wandered in darkness," - Glenn Beck
Personally, I think that Beck was crazy like a Fox to use this date and time, to stir up some softcore controversy that would be sure to get his rally publicized and debated. The ones who came for controversy, to see some street theater, protesting, and maybe a fight or two were disappointed, as well as most of the television crews sent to film it all for posterity. Normally, Glenn has a book that was just published to publicize, otherwise he usually doesn't attend the rallies he plans, so perhaps he's taking his religious messiah thing seriously. Which is a skitterish path to follow for any ex-alcoholic to follow, and is usually followed by some kind of dramatic psychotic episode, making for a delicious aftermath sometime in the next few months for all of you cynical voyeurs out there... Will any controversy come out of this mildly inspirational rally? Most of it will be drummed up by Fox News. Watching it on television and on the web, I found it to be boring. It was one of those things where you had to be there to get drummed up by any Woodstockian cultural fervor, custom made for those who are more patriotic than you or I, and will pray for America's soul. To them, I say thank you...




Back in the real world, Egyptian police seized more than 190 rockets in the Sinai peninsula, along with landmines and ammunition. The interesting thing about this was they date back to the 1967 Six-Day war and the 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict; meaning that they have been stored or buried in the desert all this time. the munitions were on their way to the tunnels Hamas uses to smuggle weapons into Gaza. Of course, Israel plans to retaliate, plans to bomb the Hizbollah arms caches in Syria have been leaked, and by this time tomorrow some more of the smuggling tunnels also will have been bombed... Israel has pumped itself into such a frenzy over Iran, that it seems to be frothing at the mouth, straining to bomb somebody, anybody that questions its macho behavior, anybody who thinks it is a weak, girly-state to sit down with  the Palestinian Authority...

Hopefully, this is all of the old ordinance, and it will stop Hamas from going ahead with its plans to do violence to stop the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. The question here is, who in the Egyptian military or government is sympathetic enough to Hamas's plans that they would give up this old cache that almost everyone had forgotton? Will Hosni Mubarak's investigators be allowed to find out, or will they be co-opted? After all, Jake, this is Cairo, not Chinatown...




This weekend is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina wiping out New Orleans. Have we learned anything from this disaster? Yes, we have learned to respond faster to the devastation in Haiti and Pakistan faster than we reacted to save the lives of our countrymen in New Orleans. Locals have been saying that the flooding could have been prevented if only the Army Core of Engineers had listened to them and not built the levees the way that they did. The Core did their own studies, and fudged the data to prove their own argument, and went ahead with their own plans, which resulted in disaster years down the road.
I have been saying to all of my friends for years that they Army Core of Engineers should have been disbanded after WW11, that they have caused more damage with their faulty projects all over our country. where I used to live, the Army Core screwed up making the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor, again, not listening to the local fishermen and creating a harbor that silts up with the first storm every year, which closes the mouth of the harbor. The Core had a long-term contract to pump the sand out of the harbor mouth, but they also took time off every year so that their employees could go back to Maryland for the Christmas holidays, which is when the first storm would hit, closing the harbor until the Core came back to work. These guys always prove to be less than useless, and should not be trusted to make anything. Unfortunately, they are in the middle of making a concrete and steel ring that is supposed to stop storm surges, and I will bet you that it, too, will become a billion dollar fiasco...



Occasionally I find ideas or lines that I have written popping up in the mainstream media, places like the Jay Leno show, on the Daily Beast, in the New York Times. Today the spokesman for the White House used a variation on what I had said in two of my posts, so I guess I'm moving up in the world. Of course, I link to these places shamelessly all of the time, so it's tit for tat. But I'm going to sign out patting myself on the back, extolling the influence of the Grumpy Old Man. So, with my apologies to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, feel free to sing along:

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' Grumpy.
Hello lamppost,
What cha knowing?
I've come to watch your flowers growing.
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo,
Feelin' Grumpy.

Got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
Life, I love you,
All is Grumpy.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Friday Enquirer Edition, From Iran To New Jersey, With A Stop At The Pentagon In Between

Paul Krugman
Martin Indyk
Eugene Robinson

"Tim Geithner, the Treasury secretary, says that “we’re on the road to recovery.” No, we aren’t. Why are people who know better sugar-coating economic reality? The answer, I’m sorry to say, is that it’s all about evading responsibility." - Paul Krugman
"History is like a horse that gallops past your window and the true test of statesmanship is to jump from that window onto the horse.” - Shimon Peres


One of the consequences of our botched abduction of the Iranian physics teacher, who then defected back to Iran, was that a new spymaster was appointed. Lucky for us he has a reputation for relying on faulty intelligence, and his biggest recommendation for the job was being a friend of the son of the Grand Ayatollah Khamenei: "Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb heads the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) which was created in mid-2009 on the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to centralise the security forces clamping down on unrest that followed the disputed presidential election." Taeb was also the first cleric to head the Basij for about nine months, as he breezed up the job ladder. Nobody in the West knows that much about the guy, he's kept a low profile, sorta like an Iranian Zelig.

Up till now. He is also now in charge of nuclear security and one of the first things he has done is to plant listening devices in every office, every bathroom, and in everyone's living quarters who's an officer of the Revolutionary Guards. I guess inquiring minds want to know if anyone is leaking info to the foreign press... But a rival intelligence group raided the house of a General in the IRGC, and found the bugs. Dumbfounded as to why they were there, they searched the other apartments where the General lived, and even weirder, found bugs in every single apartment. As the security officers were leaving with their bounty, they were stopped by some guys in plainclothes, who demanded that the bugs be handed over. They refused, and the plainclothes guys pulled out some guns and started shooting, killing some innocent bystanders.

The security officers barricaded themselves inside the apartment and called for backup. The plainclothes guys also called for backup, and had them all surrounded. The security officers were made to hand over the bugs to what turned out to be detectives from the Revolutionary Guards, who were just as puzzled over the listening devices until they all found out about Taeb's special group who only report to the Grand Ayatollah. Or his son. That Taeb seems to be such a screw-up, I wonder if he didn't train sometime with Porter Goss, who single-handedly ruined what was left of the CIA, and is now working for the Congressional Ethics committee, waging war on black people in Congress. Or it may be reassuring to know that the Peter Principle works in all forms of bureaucracy. The principle is that each person within a bureaucracy rises to their highest level of incompetence...





I have yet to find anyplace that defies the Peter Principle, especially in the Pentagon. And it's good to know that Robert Gates agrees with me. Two weeks ago he announced: "... a sweeping effort to improve efficiency that, among other things, takes aim at the military’s sacrosanct corps of generals and admirals. He ordered his staff to cut at least 50 positions and made clear that he would be happier if they cut more.

Pentagon officials said the measures were aimed at more than a number. Mr. Gates said he wanted to flatten a bureaucracy that had experienced significant “brass creep,” swelling to “cumbersome and top-heavy proportions.” He complained, for example, that a request to send a dog-handling team to Afghanistan goes through no fewer than five four-star headquarters." Too bad Mr Gates won't also look at the bank accounts of the Generals to see who is living above their means... Not that I'm implicating that any General is involved in drug smuggling, selling drugs, selling arms and munitions, or skimming money off of projects funded by the Pentagon, or any similar sort of behavior, it's just that inquiring minds want to know...




Speaking of screw-ups, the New Jersey Education Commissioner was fired, as reported in TPM: "Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) has fired his state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, as a result of errors and misrepresentations from Schundler in a matter costing the state $400 million in federal "Race to the Top" money. At the same time, the firing has been arranged at Schundler's request in such a manner so that Schundler -- a former leading figure of the state GOP's right wing -- will be able to collect unemployment benefits.


The key detail is that Schundler preferred to be fired, rather than submit his resignation. "I asked if they would mind writing a termination letter, instead of a resignation letter, because I do have a mortgage to pay, and I do have a daughter who's just started college," Schundler said, the Star-Ledger reports. "And I, frankly, will need the unemployment insurance benefits until I find another job. ... And they said fine. They said sure."

The incident involved was information that Schundler provided to the Governor about his presentation to federal officials during the Race To The Top contest. As a result, New Jersey lost the contest and didn't get special funding of $400 million. Pissed off at the loss: "On Wednesday, Christie held a press conference in which he strongly blamed the Obama administration for the loss of federal funding, saying that Schundler had tried to fix an error in the state's application during his presentation to federal education officials, but they would not let him. Then on Thursday, the federal Education Department released a video of the presentation itself, showing the officials pointing out the error to Schundler, who was unable to correct it."

Oops! So Governor Christie fired his butt, and now the guy is collecting unemployment. But Schundler made his bones as a right wing GOP conservative, even praised once by William F Buckley for his tough stance against the teacher's union and the welfare state, you know, things like unemployment insurance. And that he especially asked to be fired instead of handing in his resignation just so he could collect unemployment makes him a hypocrite-times-two.

If we keep rewarding the screw-ups by promoting them, letting them run state and federal offices, then do we get the crisis we deserve? Or do we reward the Sharron Angles and Ron Pauls of our political world, who will only scew things up more because they don't have the skills to think logically, or even think intuitively to solve our problems. These people are like Jerry Lewis's career, we think they are entertaining as long as they act like clowns, but ignore them once they want to be taken seriously...

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Jimmy Pawn In Pyongyang, Hamas Plans Violent End To Ramadan

Robert Scheer
Bob Cesca

"Barack Obama and the Democrats he led to a stunning victory two years ago are going down hard in the face of an economic crisis that he did nothing to create but which he has failed to solve." - Robert Scheer


Where last week at this time I was allowed to feel good about the state of the world, enjoyed reading the newspaper with my cup of freshly-ground coffee, and even felt good towards all of the dogs and cats lounging around in the house. This morning it looks like the August heat is driving everyone nuts and all reasonable behavior has flown out the window. It's bad enough that the predicted monsoon storms are still battering Pakistan, with over one-third of the country under water. Islamabad has issued orders for 500,000 more people to evacuate their homes, God knows where they will be living a year from now.

There isn't enough food resources left in the world right now to feed everyone who needs relief, donations have begun to stop, and I predict that millions will starve to death. Forget the Taliban, put them to work growing food and talk differing interpretations of Sharia law later. Same thing needs to happen right now in Afghanistan, turn every military expert into a farming expert, the world needs to be fed. If Afghanistan can grow an export crop this year, they can become the savior of Pakistan and turn the tables, even help the Russian regions. The US is too far entrenched in it's military solution, its romantic obsession with spies and covert affairs that blinds the policymakers from seeing any other plausible solutions.

conspiracy alert...
A couple of years ago, when it seemed that half of the state of California was on fire, I thought how easy it was to use wildfires as a terrorist act, because its the last reason that anybody would consider. One year Norther California was on fire, the next Southern California got the torch. This year over 800 wildfires were started in Russia during a record heatwave. All it takes is a few guys on motorcycles and a couple cartons of cigarettes... And now Russia may not be able to harvest enough to feed her own population and has canceled future exports for this year.


Hamas has decided to fight for its future, primarily by starting violent incidents that it hopes will stop the coming negotiations for a Palestinian state. It started today with some minor rioting in east Jerusalem on some trumped up imaginary slight, and may end with something much more serious and devastating: "Hamas is said by our sources to be preparing to activate its West Bank networks for coordinated strikes against a major target inside Israel and another associated with Abbas' power base or the US- and British-trained Palestinian security forces. However, if those networks are thwarted by the preventive measures set in motion meanwhile, Hamas will resort to attacks from the Gaza Strip which it controls or further South from Sinai, across the leaky Egyptian-Israeli border."

If the negotiations become successful, not only will Netanyahu become Israeli Prime Minister For Life, but there will no longer be a need for Hamas to exist. They already have not allowed any elections to take place for fear they would be elected out of power, and a Palestinian state where they did not participate would render them beyond useless: " Khaled Meshaal's speech Tuesday, shortly before the iftar meal breaking the Ramadan fast, was exceptionally vicious. Never before, had he dared vent his fury on Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah. For the first time, Khaled Meshal not only openly criticized Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah but threatened them: Should they refuse to boycott the US-sponsored Israel-Palestinian negotiations, he said, "The results… will be catastrophic for the interests and the security of Jordan and Egypt."


The Hamas leader showed he was even prepared to jeopardize the lifelines given his organization by both Arab governments: Egypt provides Hamas officials and military leaders with their only exit route from Gaza, while Jordan tolerates Hamas' extensive political organization, which has always been careful not to upset its delicate ties with the royal family and risk its freedom of action there." But then, what does Meshaal care, he lives in Damascus... Also noted is that he said these things after having fasted all day and was about to have his evening meal, another proof that simply fasting doesn't make you more religious, just more cranky...





Ex-president Jimmy Carter has extended his stay in North Korea, as it appears he is being used as a bargaining chip to get a personal loan from China for the gala coming out party next month of the next generation of Supreme Rulers. Not to be confused with Supreme Pencils or Supreme Economic Yardsticks... Jimmy has stopped by at Kim Jong Il's request to pick up the mad American who had walked across the border under the impression that God wanted him to help save the North Koreans.

Instead of meeting with Mr Carter, Kim gathered up his son, Kim Jong Un, and took his personal train to Beijing. As the Washington Post reports: "The fact that the North Korean leader made a rare foreign trip that overlapped with the visit shows that the impoverished country is struggling with separate and more pressing interests, analysts said. Kim is desperate to build support for an imminent power transfer to his son, and he needs China's help.


Less than two weeks from now, Pyongyang plans to host a rare delegates' meeting that, according to a growing consensus among North Korea watchers, will herald the rise of Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong Eun. The planned celebration comes at a time when North Korea, cut off from most international aid and battered by floods, faces food shortages and economic peril."

It looks like Kim Jong Il is trying to impress on his Chinese Loanmasters that he can still draw an important crowd to Pyongyang, that his mojo is legitimate, and could they please fund the coming out party for his most worthy son? If he gets the money, Jimmy can grab the prisoner and come home, otherwise he will return alone. His trip won't have been wasted, as he has been hanging out with the number two man in line of importance after Little Kim, and who would like to see more normalized, if not less paranoid relations with the US. So now we have sent two ex-presidents to North Korea. We can't send in George HW Bush, because he is suffering from Alzheimer's and can't leave home, and we can't have George W Bush go, because then we would be Sending In The Clowns...


Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Jimmy Carter Retrieves Aijalon In North Korea, Vladimir VS The Whale

Kathleen Parker
John Nichols
EJ Dionne Jr

"Instead of unity, we have dueling marches; competitions over "sacred" grounds; debates over religion and language that never should have been invited to the party. Who can articulate this misplaced American vision? Obama did so beautifully at the 2004 Democratic convention, but his words have lost power through their impotent application." - Kathleen Parker
"Republicans are in the midst of an insurrection. Democrats are not. This vast gulf between the situations of the two parties — not some grand revolt against “the establishment” or “incumbents” — explains the year’s primary results, including Tuesday’s jarring outcomes in Florida and Alaska... Liberals who saw Bush’s presidency as a failed right-wing experiment thought Republicans would search for more moderate ground, much as Britain’s Tories turned to the soothing leadership of David Cameron to organize their comeback. But this expectation overlooked the exodus of moderates over the last decade, which has shifted the balance of power in Republican primaries far to the right." - EJ Dionne Jr


We have them in every culture, people who are lost and seeking religious fulfillment. People who have opened their hearts, let their spirits fly, and cannot find their way back to mundane reality. We usually call them crazy and put them in hospitals or give them their own Hour of Power, but before that they were often taken care of by the churches. In India, Meher Baba called them masts, and spent much of his life looking for them and caring for them.

Now, we have Jimmy Carter flying into North Korea to ask for the humanitarian release of Aijalon Gomes, a 31 year old man from Boston who walked into the Forbidden Kingdom from China. Aijalon had been teaching English in South Korea, and had recently been attending services at the: "Every Nation Church of Korea in Seoul. American Robert Park, who attended the same church, had walked into North Korea one month before Gomes did. North Korea detained Park for six weeks but then released him." Every Nation Church also has several families who are defectors from North Korea, and they often have intense prayer sessions for the rest of those families still stuck in the North.
"I don't know why exactly he did it [entered North Korea] but he just — I'm sure he felt that God was saying to him good can come out of this,"
Even though Jimmy Carter's visit is supposed to be unofficial, the agreement to release our American mast had already been agreed to, with North Korea asking us to please, come and get him, he is crazier and more suicidal than any local we have under lock and key... Besides, it gives the US and North Korea an excuse to meet and talk about further relations instead of the positions that are blustered about in the press.

Here's hoping that this will be the last of these kinds of incidents, as we're running out of ex-Presidents that we can send. Hell, we can't even get George Bush to go out and support his wife's memoirs, and you certainly haven't seen him visiting any military families lately... Since Iran doesn't seem to be enamored by any of our politicians, who could we get to go there and get those hikers out of prison? Would Kobe Bryant do the trick, or would we be better off sending in Piper Perabo to charm Ahmadinejad's ass off? Inquiring minds want to know...




President Obama is mulling over whether to go to Jerusalem and Cairo in an effort to help spur along the Palestinian negotiations, once they get started in Sept. With the escalating in bombings in Baghdad, guess he won't be making any surprise side trips...



While Russia burns, it's very own Nero was videotaped shooting darts at a grey whale off the Kamchatka Peninsula: "Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fired darts from a crossbow at a gray whale off the Pacific coast on Wednesday in the latest in a series of man-versus-nature stunts designed to cultivate the image of a macho leader.


Putin held his balance in a rubber boat that was being tossed around in choppy waters off the Kamchatka Peninsula, and eventually hit the whale with a special arrow designed to collect skin samples."
"I hit it on the fourth try!" - a beaming Putin
Vlad has a strange way of trying to popularize himself, strangely reminding me of Sarah Palin at times. His other stunts have been: "... photographed fishing bare-chested in the Altai republic, and was shown on television diving into an icy river and swimming the butterfly stroke. In April, he attached a satellite-tracking collar onto a tranquilized polar bear. He also has shot a Siberian tiger with a tranquilizer gun and released leopards into a wildlife sanctuary." Figuring that his wussy Prime Minister won't have a chance against him if he decides to run in 2012, Putin's message to Mother Russia is that he is fit and ready, in a creepy macho way, that: "... it is Putin, rather than his junior co-leader President Dmitry Medvedev, who is equipped to look after Russia, its people and environment. "

Vladimir has two years yet to make his coy decision on whether to run or not. Are there any animals still living that can stand up to him and his staged events? If only John McCain had paid attention or hired Putin to run his presidential campaign, he would be president and we would be asking McCain for his birth certificate (born in Panama), and he wouldn't have had to prostitute himself to beat some old blowhard conservative hack like Hayworth...





For the past week the Jewish newspaper Haaretz has been hosting an article on the Nazis inspired architecture on a military base near San Diego. It was built 38 years ago and there were plans to fix the buildings, but either everyone was just too lazy, or there wasn't enough money in the budget that year, or they plain forgot, or they really don't care, the swastika still remains: