DON'T PILLORY HILLARY

This is truly the most exciting election year in my 4+ decades of voting.  Each political party had a real race over the past few months, engaging many voters in the process.  And as of this writing, the Democratic Party nominee is not yet identified.  

Perhaps the single greatest historic change is that the two candidates left standing on the Democrat side are a woman and a black man.  Many of us longed for the day that a woman or a person of color would be the nominee for President; now that outcome is a sure thing. 

In February, 2007, I wrote here a short piece titled "Is America Ready for a Woman or Black President?"  This was a comment related to the media focus on this question.  Here it is:  

Unfortunately, the fact that this question is asked means that we're not ready. If this is truly a democracy, why does it matter what gender, color, religion, etc. a candidate is? I wonder if this would even be a question if the media didn't keep hyping it. Perhaps we need to get beyond gender and color and religion identity, and just talk about candidates in terms of their qualifications, experience and positions on critical issues. I look forward to the day when the news isn't that so-and-so is the first woman or black such-and-such, and the focus is on the real story.

Well, I don't need to "look forward to the day" anymore - that day has been here, and now the focus is on the "qualifications, experience and positions" of Barak and Hillary.  (An interesting tangent is that in this election we usually refer to the D candidates by their first names - I think because the Hillary campaign didn't want the focus of her campaign to be "Clinton."  But that's another discussion.) 

As a result of Barak's amazing results in Iowa and other early contests, and his recent string of "wins,"  the pundits have pretty much concluded that Hillary is on the ropes and will not be the winner (headline from today's NY Times, beneath a head shot of a resolute, tight-lipped Hillary Clinton: "Soldiering On, but Somber as the Horizon Darkens"). I think there's a lot of "piling on" re: Hillary's campaign and the primary outlook, and some of it is just plain mean. The campaign post-mortems will be endless - and interesting.  Many pundits think that her campaign has made fatal and presumption-of-victory errors from the very beginning, while the Barak machinery, by comparison, has worked carefully and methodically to build an amazing base of support. I'm certain that candidates in the future will look very closely at these two campaign strategies and teams.

But the bottom line for me is that Hillary Clinton is a good person and would be a good President. (For the record, I'm in the Obama camp - this week, and probably for good.) If she were to become the nominee, I would campaign for her and vote for her.  If she indeed does not become the Democratic nominee, there will be many and long discussions after the dust settles about what went wrong for Mrs. Clinton, including discussions about the role of sexism (gender bias?) in her ultimate failure to win the nomination.  And this discussion should be engaged; it is important.  But I have to ask; if Clinton wins the nomination, will we have similar discussions about the role of racism in the Obama defeat?  It seems to me that there has been more media time spent on the gender question than on the race question. (A confounding variable is "the Clinton question.") Is there more gender bias in the USA (and perhaps the world) compared to race bias?  If nothing else, I hope that this election year elevates these questions to a prominent place in our national dialogue. 

I hope that the American public gives Hillary Clinton the credit she deserves for breaking an historic barrier, for putting herself under the microscope of public scrutiny and on the grill of media heat, and for standing up for democracy.  You go girl! 

NEWS ROUNDUP: 15 FEB 2008

As a public service, I sometimes summarize the news of the day for readers who are too busy (or too lazy?) to read the newspaper themselves. So below is a summary of some of the news for today, [with my compulsory editorializing] all from the front section of The Oregonian newspaper. (Note: I need to also point you to Nicholas Kristof's column in the editorial section re: the shame of Guantanamo.)

"Run, he's reloading the gun" A former student walked into a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and started shooting (a shotgun and 2 handguns), killing at least 5 (including himself) and wounding many. [Are we just going to accept that this kind of thing will happen once or twice per year, or are we maybe going to finally do something about gun violence in this country?]

"Dead zones off coast look like a first" and "Study finds no ocean areas untouched by human activity" The first story reports on an article in the journal Science about dead zones at the bottom of the ocean off the Oregon coast, resulting from lack of oxygen. After studying decades of oceanographic data, researches found that the appearance of dead zones every year for the past 6 years had not been seen previously off Oregon. Scientists hypothesize that some environmental "tipping point" has been exceeded, as a result of global warming, and that this could be a new "normal" for the coastal ocean. The second article reports about a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science during which a new map was shown of the world's oceans. Every part of the oceans on Earth have indicators of human activity, and the extent and level of impacts "looks much worse" than researchers expected. The impacts studied included: effects of structures such as oil rigs, commercial shipping, species invasion, climate change impacts including acidification, ultraviolet radiation and sea temperature, various types of fishing, and several types of human-related pollution. [I wonder what Sammy C. Lyon thinks about all this? (see 24 Jan 2008 post]

"Bush orders shootdown of satellite" [Cue the scary sci-fi music; this one is right out of a bad sci-fi movie, with Bruce Willis playing the reluctant hero who needs to save the Earth.] President Bush has ordered a Navy vessel to try something never done before - shoot down an orbiting rogue U.S. spy satellite before it plunges to Earth. The wayward spy satellite is loaded with "toxic fuel" (about 100 pounds of toxic hydrazine) that could create major problems if it lands in the wrong place after the satellite breaks up as it falls out of orbit. The goal of the missile shot is to break the huge satellite into smaller pieces, "most" of which will consequently burn up as it falls to Earth. [I sure hope they warn us before it starts to rain satellite pieces.]

"Governor ups ante against LNG sites" Three liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants are proposed for Oregon, two in the lower Columbia River. These very controversial projects have been receiving almost daily coverage in the press for months. At issue in this story is the conflict between the State of Oregon and federal agencies. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 preempted state authority over these kinds of projects, and the governor is asking federal agencies to do a better job of analyzing energy alternatives and environmental impacts for these projects. The State is also trying to wrest control over these projects back from the feds. [It's interesting that shipping super-cooled (liquefied) natural gas to the USA from Asia and warming it to its gas state can be profitable; but such is our unlimited appetite for energy in this country.]

"Charged Up" Obama is drawing huge crowds to his rallies compared to other candidates. [gObama!]

And that's just the front page! Here are a few more of my favorites from the front section.

"Hezbollah leader vows to hit Israel, avenge slain militant" Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, [OK, this guy is a total thug. This is the "religious leader" who recently bragged in public that Hezbollah has a lot of Israeli soldier body parts in storage from the 2006 war in Lebanon - "arms, legs, heads, torsos." He complained yesterday that the "Zionists" killed Imad Mughniyeh "outside the natural battleground..." Mughniyeh was killed in Damascus, Syria on Tuesday by unknown assailants. Mughniyeh was a terrorist strategist wanted for many attacks over the past 20 years, including hijackings, kidnappings, and the 1983 bombing in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. troops. In other words, his "natural battleground" was anywhere he wanted it to be. Hey Nasrallah - (expletive deleted!)]

"FEMA to speed trailer relocations" FEMA has suddenly found a sense of urgency to move Katrina victims out of the FEMA-supplied trailers because many of them have very high levels of toxic formaldehyde. [FEMA has known about the formaldehyde issue for a long time, and has even warned its employees not to enter these trailers because of the toxicity - at the same time they had not warned the people living in the trailers! Can anyone explain to me why FEMA gets away with all of this, in this age of "compassionate conservatism?"

"Official says waterboarding's legality isn't determined" Steven Bradbury is head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. He told a congressional committee yesterday that waterboarding is no longer included in the authorized program of interrogation. [In a case of classic double-speak and obfuscation, this smart attorney said that the Justice Department has not made a determination that the use of waterboarding would be lawful under current law. He also stated that the Department has not made a determination whether or not the method would be unlawful. [It is worth listening to the report of this hearing on NPR today in order to hear the deliberate question-dodging by this guy, and the frustration of congressional members that the guy won't answer questions with anything specific.]

And there's more - lots more - for the reading. But enough from me.

IT'S THE AUTOMOBILE, STUPID!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the problem isn't the kind of fuel we use in our automobiles, the problem is our automobiles.

Some new studies published in the scientific literature conclude that "almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account" (see NY Times article). At issue here is the amount of land being converted to agricultural uses to grow biofuel crops, and the greenhouse gas emissions created when forest, shrub or grasslands are cleared, burned and plowed to plant fuel crops.

We already know that there are many implications of biofuel production beyond the "green" aspects of cleaner burning fuels. Production of government-mandated ethanol in the USA from corn and soybeans has driven up the price of these crops, and therefore the price of food. There are even some shortages of these crops because of the demand for them by the biofuel industry. Ethanol production from corn and soy is more profitable than using these crops for food. This has far-reaching global implications in economic and social terms.

The problem, and solution, isn't the fuel we burn, it's burning the fuel in the first place. The number of automobiles in the world is increasing rapidly, with a related demand for fuel. We need to develop different concepts and methods of transportation, and we need to plan our communities around principles of sustainability instead of around the automobile.

There is no such thing as a free lunch; biofuels aren't the magic bullet. Let's get smart.

GEORGE W. BUSH - THE GRAND INQUISITOR

The news flash today: the White House asserts that torture is legal if The President approves its use. So The Decider is now The Grand Inquisitor!

In essence, if there is a threat to The Homeland, the President can authorize extreme measures of interrogation to protect The Homeland. In other words, waterboarding, which the CIA has admitted using and which is considered torture by most people, and other techniques can and will be used. (The head of the CIA has said that waterboarding "might be illegal" under current law.)

Torture is illegal under international law. It is considered illegal under various U.S. laws and Constitutional rulings. (A good FAQ on the illegality of torture is provided by Human Rights Watch.) Waterboarding is a technique that dates back to the Inquisition; some descriptions indicate that victims of this technique often died. We are led to believe, by the Axis of Weasels Spin Machine, that waterboarding and other "extreme interrogation techniques" employed by the CIA are performed by professionals in a controlled environment - in other words, we should not have an image of a dark, dank dungeon with implements of torture and big, hairy goons grinning as they torture the life out of their hapless prisoners. Yeah - right.

I'm truly outraged by this. I called the offices of our Senators and Congressman to voice my outrage that this President has taken our country to such depths of immorality. I hope all of you do the same.

PRIUS ENVY

Living in Priusland, Oregon is sometimes a self-image challenge, particularly for those of us who are Prius-less. This isn't a criticism of those who are among the Prius-pious, but rather, a plea for recognition for those who don't own one of Toyota's finest.

On a drive in downtown Portland the other day, I saw a large billboard advertising reduced parking fees for drivers of hybrid cars. How does this make sense? Does someone verify that the driver of the Prius getting the discount doesn't also own 2 or 3 other vehicles, including big truck and SUV gas-guzzlers? A recent survey (no time to find the link) found that many hybrid owners have added the eco-car to their family fleet of bigger vehicles. And many of the newer luxury hybrids, like the Lexus, use the hybrid technology to improve acceleration, with small gains in fuel efficiency.

In our 2-person family, we moved into an urban part of town 5 years ago, reduced our fleet to 1 car, and do a lot of walking to shops and restaurants. I ride my bicycle to the office probably 99% of the trips there - rain or shine, winter or summer. So why don't we get a parking discount downtown?

I lke the Prius and other hybrids. Hybrid vehicles are a good development for a variety of reasons. But let's not get too carried away with it. The reality is that the increase in the number of motor vehicles in the USA and work-wide results in rising fuel consumption and more emissions. The answer to our motor vehicle related problems isn't different fuels and engines, it's changing the basic concept of transportation for people and goods. We need fewer vehicles, period.


Well, gotta go - the sun is shining, and it' a good day for a walk.

NIGHTTIME OVER THE NORTH PACIFIC

The mostly empty 737 lifted off the runway at the moment when night has bested day, and images below were barely discernible. The cabin lights were off, and I was alone in the rear section. I watched the lights of Kodiak slip under the wing and disappear behind us; and then the veil of clouds obscured the planet's surface.

I settled into a traveler's reverie supported by the distinctive combination of the jet engines' muffled roar and the air rushing past the thin metal skin around me. Inside and outside were almost equally dark, with the exception of the bright wingtip light visible in the corner of my window view. Openings in the cloud cover drifted by, appearing below as dark spaces in the gray.

Then there appeared far below, in the slow-motion movie viewed through an airplane window like a strange television show, a yellow light. As it slipped by, I could see that it was the light of a ship far below, visible through a large opening in the clouds. The view focused as I glided overhead, and I could just make out the white wake signature of two screws - giving me a clue that this lone vessel on a black sea was perhaps an Alaska State Ferry or an ocean-going tug.

I was gripped at that moment by an incredible feeling of loneliness and insignificance. I in my tiny dim space hurtling through the air, they in their small vessel racing towards who-knows-what through the incredible darkness of the sea at night. I pictured the wheel house of the ship; maybe a lone crew member peering into the darkness over the glow of the instruments. I've been there, and I could feel it.

And then it was gone.

We continued towards Anchorage. At one point the clouds below were illuminated with a strange yellow glow in large patches - the lights of a town or some industries glowing against the cloud bottom. "How strange" I thought to myself, and I drifted deeper into that place between sky and earth, darkness and light.

The bang of landing gear on pavement jolted me awake. We were down, the lights were on, people were reaching for cell phones. Welcome home weary traveler.

WHO WILL SPEAK FOR THE SEA LIONS?

A bit of background is in order here for those who don't live in the Pacific Northwest. For the past few years, an increasing number of California sea lions have been making their way more than 100 miles up the Columbia River to the area below Bonneville Dam during the salmon spawning migration season. There the sea lions feast on adult salmon and some white sturgeon. Federal, state and Tribal fish managers are concerned that the predation by these large marine mammals on fish runs listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) will further decimate these threatened and endangered species. Commercial, recreational and tribal fishers are very upset because sea lions often steal fish from their gear. Biologists estimate that the sea lions might be eating about 4 percent of the runs of ESA-listed species. After several years of mostly ineffective hazing with noise and small explosives, the agencies are close to getting a ruling that they can selectively kill the worst of these offenders (the ruling is required because the sea lions are a protected species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.)

I was recently kayaking in the Columbia River and saw an old friend of mine, a sea lion named Sammy who visits every year when the salmon are migrating. We caught up on old times, and I let him use my pocket p.c. to catch up on the news on the internet (and, of course, to read my blog). He was very upset to learn that the federal agencies are close to a ruling that will allow them to kill sea lions. Sammy asked me if he could dictate a message to me that I would post on the blog. His message follows:

My name is Sammy C. Lyon. I live in the Pacific Ocean, and often visit the Columbia River for the annual salmon feast. I noticed that my picture was in the Oregonian the other day, kind of like a mug shot in the Post Office. According to the article, there will likely be a death warrant signed soon for me and some of my relatives.

I'm finding it difficult to comprehend this turn of events. Yes, I eat salmon, and an occasional sturgeon, while I'm enjoying the seasonal foods of the Columbia River. My ancestors have been eating these foods for many generations, and we've always followed the salmon upstream in the Columbia, historically up to Celilo Falls where we and the native people of the river shared the bounty of nature before your dams drowned the falls. But now it seems that we're taking the blame for something we really haven't caused.

I have a great sense of humor, and I chuckled when I read a published statement by the Regional Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife that my eating salmon at Bonneville Dam “is a very unnatural situation that requires active intervention to restore nature's balance.” What? Restore nature's balance by killing sea lions at the base of a dam? Um, excuse me, but my relatives and I didn't build Bonneville Dam, we don't dump billions of gallons of sewage into the river, we're swimming in a soup of toxic and radioactive wastes, pharmaceutical drugs, excess nutrients and other impacts of the wonderful “balance of nature” you humans have created. And we're not responsible for global warming. I don't see your government issuing death warrants for people who destroy habitat, dump toxic wastes, over harvest fish, and take so much water out of streams that salmon can no longer live there.

Wild salmon aren't imperiled because my sea lion brethren and I eat them. And we don't “steal” fish from humans fishing in the river – the wild fish don't really belong to you. You humans have always had a tendency to blame someone else for the problems you create. Killing sea lions might save some fish, but it doesn’t solve the larger problem. As reported by the Oregonian, the huge salmon recovery industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars per year with few improvements in salmon populations.

I'm going to continue living my life, eating the foods I eat, and hope that I can avoid getting killed by the appointed executioners of your government. I only hope that there are enough people who choose to have salmon and sea lions by taking responsibility for salmon declines and making real changes in how humans affect the natural systems that sustain all of us.


Thanks Sammy - well said!

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DEBATES - A NEW REALITY T.V. SERIES?

Wow - now that was some excitement last night at the ol' CNN democratic candidate debate. Barak and Hillary having at it, big time! This was some of the best name-calling, mud-slinging, accusation-flinging "debating" I've seen (not that I've watched very many of these).

So I got to thinking, "how much of this can we stand?" But then I realized that this is really good prime-time entertainment when it's such a spark-fest. These people are becoming real professionals at presidential candidate debating; so maybe there's a future in it for them - Reality TV!

Maybe I should pitch this idea to some producers. Film crews can follow Hillary and Barak around all day and night, peeking into their strategy sessions, rehearsals, bus time, meals, ups and downs. We can watch as campaign staff dig for dirt on the opposition, develop stinging sound-byte quality zingers for their candidate to memorize, rehearse their candidate in the dramatic arts, such as double-takes, painful looks, hateful glares, and righteous indignation. Each week the tension can build towards the debate, where they will be in the glare of the lights, live on-camera for the world to watch.

Hey - who needs a President when we have reality TV? Who needs real issues when we have real drama? What could be better than the innuendos of race, gender, conservativism, back-room deals, big corporate donations, and hints of possible scandal?

Sounds great, doesn't it? My only problem is, I don't watch reality TV - reality is bad enough!

FED CHIEF PLANS STIMULUS PACKAGE

" President Bush and Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke have both endorsed the idea of a stimulus package...."

In an announcement today, Chairman Bernanke announced an aggressive plan to implement a widespread stimulus throughout America. "We have been working closely with Pfizer and Merck on this stimulus package" said the Fed Chief. "As a result, we should very soon have billions of stimulants ready to distribute to Americans, particularly the working poor and unemployed."

The stimulation package, first conceived in the office of the Vice-President, Lord Darth Cheney, is a brilliant plan that will keep ordinary Americans so doped-up that the economic woes of the country will not be a concern to them. In the meantime, the wealthiest Americans will continue to reap the benefits of giant tax breaks and unprecedented profits.

Praise the Fed, and pass the Stimulants!

THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR SHOULD BE ILL-EAGLE

It's a rather strange and disturbing story from Kodiak, Alaska. About 50 bald eagles, symbol of America, got into a dumpster-diving frenzy in a dump truck filled with fish guts outside a fish cannery. When it was all over, about 30 eagles had drowned in the pile because they were pushed and held under by their fellow eagles who were gorging on this rotting pile of scavenger delicacies.

Nature - go figure!

I've been to Kodiak; in fact, I'll be there at the end of this month. When the canneries are working, you can see hundreds of eagles on the short drive from the airport to town. Eagles soaring overhead, dozens of eagles sitting in every tree along the road. For people who have not seen many eagles, it is an awe-inspiring site.

So maybe the eagles should wise up and learn not to disappoint us humans with behavior that is undignified for a national symbol. I mean, magnificently snatching a salmon from just below the surface of the sea with outstretched talons below wide-spread wings is a glorious sight, and one to remember. But - drowning anyone who gets between you and a pile of rotting, steaming fish guts in the bed of a dump truck seems somehow diametrically opposed to the carefully cultivated image of power and glory.

Get with the program, eagles.

THE SHAME OF IRAQ

Isn't it nice that things are better in Iraq? Well, anyway, that how it seems because there is much less media coverage about it. Hey, The Surge is working! Violence is down, security is up, things are getting back to normal for Iraqis. And....Hillary and McCain won New Hampshire!

How convenient for the architects of the Iraq fiasco. How inconvenient for Iraqis and members of the U.S. military.

I used to feel anger and frustration about the U.S. war in Iraq. Now the feeling that overwhelms me is shame.

I feel shame when I think that my country invaded and is occupying another nation without provocation or cause.

I feel shame when I see the estimates of Iraqi civilian deaths and injuries, in the hundreds of thousands.

I feel shame when I learn about the plight of millions of Iraqis who have been forced to flee their homes and their country under threat to their lives.

I feel shame when I hear reports, such as the excellent series by Deborah Amos on NPR, about Iraqi refugee families in Jordan and Syria who are not allowed to work; children who are not allowed to attend school (many have not been in school for 2-3 years); Iraqis who worked for the U.S. military, at great risk to themselves and their families, and are not allowed to immigrate to the United States.

I feel shame that my government is not making reparations to the displaced Iraqi people, or helping them rebuild their lives.

I feel shame that the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have dishonorably discharged thousands of men and women who served tours of duty in Iraq and returned with mental disorders, and are no longer eligable for veterans medical benefits.

I feel shame about the thousands of American military families whose lives have been torn apart by frequent and extended deployments.

I feel shame about the conditions in military hospitals, in which wounded soldiers are ill-treated.

And I feel shame that the people of my country don't also seem to feel this sense of shame about this new kind of America.

Dennis Kucinich is correct, in my opinion, when he talks about Bush and Cheney and the other architects of this invasion and occupation as war criminals. But it goes beyond that - way beyond.

And I am ashamed that we, the people, allowed this to happen.

IS OBAMA THE ONE?

I wish Morphius was here to tell me if Obama is The One - our Neo.

In February of last year I wrote a piece about needing a new leader. Someone who understands that the world today is different from yesterday's world. Someone who actually has a different mind set about technology, politics, resources, etc.

For me, the speeches by the dem candidates after the Iowa results were in were very telling. John Edwards launched into his angry class warfare campaign speech - the big corporations are the evil doers. He reminded me of speeches I heard, and gave, about 30-40 years ago as a young radical. It's not that I necessarily disagree with his premise, but the class warfare rant is old politics, and I don't think it moves things forward.

Hillary Clinton was more polite than John - she actually congratulated the front-runners. But then she hit hard on her basic theme - she is the only one with experience. She's been there done that, in the trenches, in the White House, carry the good past forward, etc. Again, I tend to think we need new ideas, new constructs of global reality, new understandings.

So that leads me to Barak Obama. Does he really get it? Is he really in a different political generation than John and Hillary? Does he understand that globalization and all that it entails is a new paradigm in human history that requires a different politics?

Is he The One?

IOWA CAUCUS - IOWA SHMAUCUS

The headlines scream it: "Iowans ready to make or break candidates." What?? This is another bizarre aspect of the whacky US electoral system. Why does the Iowa caucus make or break candidates? Do Iowans really represent the majority of US voters? I don't get it.

I listened to a report recently explaining the Iowa caucus system, and believe me, I didn't understand it. The caucus rules are more complex than any board game, card game or sport - the only word I can think of to describe it is "weird." It's basically a popularity contest where the people participating get to select first and second choices, and change their votes.

And now we'll all have to endure the constant media blitz of reports, analyses, and the parade of talking heads that will tell us what it all means. Oy - where can I hide until it's over?

ATTENTION ALL EXTREMISTS

This is my first post for 2008. People typically have hopes and good wishes for a new year, and I certainly have those; however, numerous topics have been swirling about within my head since I started writing again last week, and this is what I've selected - extremism.

In many ways, the 21st Century has begun as a time of extremism. We're witnessing a growth in strength of all sorts of extremists in the world: religious, political, and nationalist among the most prominent. Islamic extremists have grabbed a major share of the headlines, but we shouldn't overlook the historic importance of the others.

To the religious extremists I have to say that your actions demonstrate the flaws of your beliefs. You jihadists who kill randomly with no regard for human life are not doing holy acts - you are the worst kind of murderers, and are despicable people who rain discredit upon your professed religion. You politicians who act "according to god's will" (yes George, including you) use the cloak of godliness to violate basic principles of humanity, wreaking havoc within your own jurisdictions and beyond. Those of you who find it acceptable to violate the human rights of others (women, homosexuals, "the other") because "the bible says it is so" go beyond acceptable in meddling where you shouldn't.

To you political extremists, both here in the USA and abroad, history will show you for what you truly are. Your use of fear and hate have brought ruin to many millions of human lives and whole societies. You care not what methods you employ to advance your extremism; you lie and cheat and pose enemies and call names - anything and everything to advance your extremist agendas.

To nationalists, at all levels, your short-sightedness poses doom for humankind. Included here are local, tribal, regional and national identifications that promote unity and hatred against "the others" because they are not you. These concepts of identification belong in the dustbin of history.

There are many unifying themes in the world today, important discussions and actions that we, as humankind, need to have. But you extremists are bent on preventing unification because your way is the only way. Can we humans get beyond primitivism? By this I mean the self-centered identifications and agendas that keep us at each others throats. On the scale of history, these are petty, meaningless things that serve no purpose for the future. Listen to the news - understand the world. Humanity has changed the physical nature of our planet's climate; we have overgrown our capacity to feed ourselves; we are rapidly losing the best and most valuable parts of the natural world out of greed; and we continue to kill each other for reasons that are beyond comprehension.

I dream of a time of great change - a global epiphany if you will - during which humankind comes to its senses and truly understands the concepts of cooperation, sustainability, respect and yes, love. Unfortunately, I know that this is most likely just a dream.

Happy New Year.

THE HOMELAND IS SECURE

These tidbits were gleaned from the local newspaper on December 20. They give me faith in the Cheney-Bush Team and their minions, faith that we Americans can rest safely in our beds at night knowing that we are safe from terrorists, our financial well-being is secure, and our environment is protected.

- The Customs and Border Protection folks at Miami International Airport spend significantly more time searching for and busting Americans with illegal cigars and rum from Cuba than they do looking for terrorists.

- The government of China is now the second-largest shareholder of the second-largest financial firm on Wall Street, Morgan Stanley, with a $5 Billion bail-out investment.

- The Environmental Protection Agency has ruled that the strict automobile emission standards implemented by the State of California (and many other states) can not be put into law, under provisions of the federal Clean Air Act. The EPA concluded that state law cannot be more strict than federal law, even though EPA has approved more strict state laws many times in the past. (A big party was certainly held at the auto industry lobby, with drinks probably donated by the White House.)

I feel so safe and secure right now that I think I'll jump in my big rig and go shopping out at the mall on the interstate!

CHENEY'S BRAIN JOLTS BLOGGER FROM LETHARGY!!

It has been about 5 months since my last post. Chalk it up to blogger block (blogck - maybe a new term that will catch on...). But more likely it's unbridled cynicism combined with a feeling of total helplessness. Can things get any worse than they are - yes.

But thanks to the NYT News Service, a story today jolted me back from blogckitude, and here I go again.

"A newly declassified document shows that J. Edgar Hoover, the longtime director of the FBI, had a plan to suspend habeas corpus and imprison some 12,000 Americans that he suspected of disloyalty." This plan was sent by Hoover to the Truman White House shortly after the Korean War began in 1950. The plan was not implemented (as far as we know).


This revelation solves a number of mysteries for me, particularly a nagging one about Lord Darth Cheney. It all comes together now with two possibilities: 1) Hoover's brain is alive and active in a big jar in Darth Cheney's office, where it provides ideas to Darth, or, 2) Darth Cheney actually had the living brain of J. Edgar Hoover implanted in his head. Both of these make sense, and explain where some of Lord Cheney's ideas and pronouncements originate.

Wow...I'm glad that one is solved!

BUSH-CHENEY HEALTH SECRETS

Stunning revelations in a 2-week period! Medical procedures reveal close-kept Administration secrets.

Last week, President George W. Bush underwent a colonoscopy procedure, and leaked reports have shed some light on one of the mysteries of the Bush years - the whereabouts of WMDs. After awakening from the routine colon exam, President Bush was overheard saying: "I saw them - Weapons of M'ass Destruction!!"

Meanwhile, Vice-Royal Darth Cheney has been hospitalized so doctors can replace his defibrillator. Replacement of the defibrillator provides some clues to the Vice-Emperor's success - his constant fibbing about Iraq, government spying, energy policy and many other topics is enabled by the defibrillator!

SPIN WARS, EPISODE 3: THE EMPIRE TAKES A BACK SEAT

When last we visited the Axis of Weasels and the Dark Lord, Darth Cheney (November 11, 2005), things were looking bad for the Lefti Knights and the entire galaxy. But cracks were beginning to appear in the Axis of Weasels armor, despite the spin-saber tactics of the evil MachiaRovean. But the forces of good underestimated the power of the Dark Side, particularly their Dark Lord. Darth Cheney continued to spin and lie and paint as evil and unpatriotic those who dared speak out against military campaigns of the Axis. The Dark Lord became more secretive and harder to find, all the while planning his evil doings.

And so it came to pass that, in the year of 7 in the Second Millennium, the Dark Lord, Darth Cheney, put in motion his secret plan to gain control of the Empire. The Dark Lord, brushing aside the puppet Emperor Dubya, declared a new branch of government comprised of - himself. Under this new ruling structure, Darth Cheney became part of whichever branch of the Empire he chose on any particular day, depending on the politics of the moment. If rules governing the behavior of the Executive Branch of the Empire got in his way, well, he was not part of that branch, despite his title of Vice Emperor. If rules governing the Legislative Branch got in his way, well, he was not part of that branch. Darth Cheney, the Dark Lord, was his own branch of the Empire.

And so the Axis of Weasels continued to careen down the path of history, leaving in it's wake a ruined planet wracked with war, greed, pollution and hatred. And Darth Cheney, the Dark Lord, smirked as he watched the results of his planning.

FROM CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS: THE UNIFYING ISSUE

We've been busy here at FISHMAN for POTUS galactic headquarters (see the last post for the announcement of my candidacy). The issues I want to address are numerous; the planks in my platform are many; and we've been pondering how to start off by "hitting the nail on the head," so to speak. At long last, the Unifying Issue became clear.

Global Warming is what I consider to be The Unifying Issue. Global Warming is not a for-or-against, Democrat vs. Republican, liberal vs. conservative, east vs. west, Christian vs. Jew vs. Muslim issue. This issue is reality smacking all of us up side the head and saying "do something now for future generations." This one issue demands all nations to rethink public policy, foreign policy, public planning, transportation, energy and environmental policy, tax structure, international trade, education and health care. This issue demands all people to rethink their life styles and consumer habits - particularly those of us who are privileged.

Look at the news on any day and consider each news item in the context of Global Warming. Think about your own activities and decisions through one complete day in the context of Global Warming. Think about the ridiculousness of fighting between people over religious beliefs, claims to land, ethnicity or old scores to settle contrasted to the future for everyone everywhere on a planet with a climate irrevocably altered by our own stupidity.

As President, I will consistently lead a national and international discussion about this Unifying Issue. I will work tirelessly to change the basic concepts of our society from one based on consumerism and greed to one based on principles of sustainability. I will work to change our foreign policy from one of domination to one of cooperation - using the innate creativity, generosity and compassion of Americans to lead by example.

Just as there is a major human-induced climate shift on this planet, I envision a human-induced paradigm shift towards a world with a future based on the realities of a finite planet.

FISHMAN for POTUS*
not just for the halibut


* President of the United States

ANNOUNCING MY CANDIDACY

I'm using this post to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.

This is not a decision made lightly. The tipping point was the recent candidates "debate" for the eight announced Democratic Party candidates. Although I only heard the media sound bytes, they were enough to push me over the edge. Basically, I'm tired of politicians dancing around the real issues because they don't want to alienate any potential constituencies. As a result, we have: Senator Clinton stressing that she's tough enough to retaliate against terrorists who attack us; Senator Obama endlessly reminding us that he was always against the Iraq War - from the beginning; and then there's Mr. Edwards, who admits that, yes, he lives a privileged life as evidenced by his $400 haircuts , but we need to remember that he comes from poverty. Oh give me a break!!

My candidacy stands firmly on one single pledge: I will always talk about the real issues - honestly and from my heart.

Future posts will provide details about my programs. I'll talk about foreign policy, the "Global War on Terror," education, environment, health care, justice, and communication.

I hope you'll visit again and read my opinion. I hope you'll comment so we can have a national, and international, dialogue about reality.

Thank you, and remember:

FISHMAN for POTUS
Not just for the halibut

MAYBE WE SHOULD ALL BE AFRAID?

I'm generally not a person who is afraid, particularly about things that could seem, well, weirdly paranoid, like fear of my own government. But we recently listened to an interview that scared me and kept me awake for a long time after going to bed.

Every citizen of the USA should listen to the interview broadcast on March 19, 2007 on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air. Jeremy Scahill is the author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. "Blackwater USA is a secretive private army based in North Carolina with a sole owner: Erik Prince, a right-wing Christian multimillionaire." Their web site proclaims that Blackwater USA is the most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations company in the world. Numerous media stories refer to the company as training and contracting out mercenaries. Blackwater has thousands of armed personnel for hire, aircraft, armored vehicles of their own design, and at least two very large training bases. Blackwater has played a large role in the Iraq war under contract to the United States, and has had numerous casualties.

The interview presents a picture that I found to be very chilling. Blackwater's presence is becoming more widespread both abroad and in the United States, and the politics of the company, based on those of it's owner, are very right of center.

What scared me is the realization that the right-wing politics of the Bush administration are matched by a large and growing private military with close ties to the White House. We citizens of the US have seen our civil liberties increasingly narrowed by the Bush-led government, and have witnessed large increases in the number of government services and jobs that have been out-sourced to private firms. The abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, Guantanamo prison camp, secret CIA-run prisons around the world, "extraordinary renditions" (disappearings) of people and their subsequent torture, abolishment of habeas corpus, etc., etc. are very disturbing, and not in line with what most Americans think America stands for.

Is there a scenario in which the President announces that, because of the imminent risk of terrorist attacks, our country is under martial law and elections are suspended, and this is enforced by military units and the Blackwater forces loyal to President Bush? This is just paranoia, right? These things don't and can't happen - not here - can they?

Maybe we should all be afraid just enough to speak up now - loudly and clearly and together.

DARTH CHENEY ON SUPPORTING THE TROOPS

"They're not supporting the troops. They're undermining them," is how Darth "Buckshot" Cheney referred to the House of Representatives. And, oh yes, let's not forget that these truly unpatriotic SOB's are "sending a message to terrorists that America will retreat in the face danger."

Oh give me a frickin break!! I'm beginning to believe that ol' Darth actually had The Big One a couple of years ago, and this dark-side apparition we see on the TV is really a robot who has been programmed with about three repetitive statements. Does anyone actually believe anything this old fart says? OK, yes, there must be some believers, those who take their daily dose of koolaid.

Darth, listen to me - it's time to retire. You've done enough damage to the world to last a lifetime. You have so totally screwed things up that the world will never be the same. Step down Darth - others are standing up, and you can stand down - NOW!

THE NUKALER CLUB: MEMBERS ONLY

The small article on page A-11 of The Oregonian today is about an announcement by the U.S. Energy Department for a new contract to develop a new Hydrogen Bomb, intended to replace the aging warheads now in the U.S. arsenal. With all the media attention, prompted by White House press releases and statements, about the impending doom represented by North Korea and Iran developing nukaler weapons, we are left in a fog of ignorance about our own nukaler capabilities.

What does this small article tell us? Mainly it's about the competition between the three U.S. national weapons laboratories, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia, for the lead position on this contract. The contract value is "secret," but experts say it is worth billions or tens of billions of dollars. We need this new H-bomb because the old ones are, well, old and maybe unreliable; however, "critics" say that the existing stockpile is reliable and can be safely maintained for decades.

I've always had problems with the nuclear nations (the Nukaler Club) telling everyone else that they can't become members because, well, nukes are bad. It's OK for the club members to have nukes, and I guess to also build new ones, but any other nation that moves in that direction is being evil.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not proposing that any and every nation should have nukes; quite the opposite, I don't think any nation should have nukes - they're bad. We've certainly gotten beyond the idea of nuclear deterrence within the Nukaler Club - it's inconceivable that any of the Club members would use nukes against another member because of the realities of nuclear warfare. And nukes aren't very useful against terrorist cells.

Imagine, if you can, being a North Korean or an Iranian. You've been named by an American President part of the "Axis of Evil" and one of the three countries in that Axis has been invaded, occupied, and basically destroyed by the American cowboy President. He's rattled his swords in your direction, moved warships into your neighborhood, used veiled threats of military action against you. So maybe your only defense, so you think, is the threat of nuclear deterrence - that just might be logical thinking. And, oh yeah, by the way, the US is also developing a new H-bomb.

The above is not to condone the actions of North Korea and Iran, and the actions of those countries are certainly much more complicated than this simplistic imagining. But why is it OK for a few nations to have The Bomb and tell everyone else they can't because it's too dangerous?

WANTED/NEEDED: A LEADER FOR A NEW WORLD

In case you haven't noticed, the world is different now. Nothing is, or ever will be, the same as it was before. Human actions have changed the earth's climate, terrorism has changed geopolitics, the Internet has changed communication and commerce, economic globalization has changed the boundaries between state and corporation, international transportation has changed the dispersal patterns of disease. These new realities are difficult to understand and accept, but we need to put aside our old ways, and adopt (and adapt to) new ways.

Old style leaders using old ways of thinking aren't what we need. Their time is over; their ideas and methods don't work anymore and are actually doing more harm than good. We know this; it's in the news every morning, it's the topic of our conversations every day.

Who will our new leaders be? Who actually understands the new realities of the world? Who can articulate the new realities in ways that help us understand and accept them? Who has the ability to translate this awareness into new paradigms for moving ahead and thriving in a new world?

In the USA we already have a number of announced candidates for President (even though the election is almost 2 years away!). I look at this field of politicians and see mostly people who are part of the old way, and by their statements and positions let me know that they can only think in that old mind set. Those who are closest to my particular politics say things that sound good, use the right buzz words and phrases, and identify the right issues, but it really all sounds the same, and I've heard it all before. I'm actually hoping that Senator Obama, because of his age and not-yet-solidified connections to the old politics, might be the candidate who breaks away from the old paradigms and presents us with a new set for a different world.

I honestly don't have a lot of hope that things will change in this world the way I know they need to change. This lack of hope is based on experience - after all, U.S. voters elected George W. Bush not once, but twice! Elections aren't based on reality, they're based on hype and spin, and who does it best. I hope someone surprises me this time around.

ARE U.S. VOTERS READY FOR A WOMAN OR BLACK (or fill in the blank) PRESIDENT?

Unfortunately, the fact that this question is asked means that we're not ready. If this is truly a democracy, why does it matter what gender, color, religion, etc. a candidate is? I wonder if this would even be a question if the media didn't keep hyping it. Perhaps we need to get beyond gender and color and religion identity, and just talk about candidates in terms of their qualifications, experience and positions on critical issues. I look forward to the day when the news isn't that so-and-so is the first woman or black such-and-such, and the focus is on the real story.

SCROTUM

Such a great word, really, but not one that is often heard in public. But now scrotum joins the ranks of many other august terms as a rallying cry by some (not all) of the Protectors of Young Minds - school librarians.

Scrotum appears in this years Newbery Award childrens book. The NY Times tells the story, and that the 10-year old boy in the book hears someone say that his dog was bit by a rattlesnake on the scrotum (ouch!). A number of school librarians have pulled the book off the library shelves because scrotum, I guess, is a word children should not know. Is there a better word for a scotum than scrotum?

I have to say here that I like the word scrotum. It's a great word, a fun word. I imagine a scene from a movie in which Mel Gibson ( I think he has one) and a horde of blue-and-white face-painted men in skirts brandishing swords and battle axes and clubs are charging across a windy plain, holding high a banner with a curvy "W"-shaped icon, and screaming, in a Welsh or Scottish brogue "SCROTUM - SCROTUM; FOR THE HONOR OF SCROTUM." Or something like that.....

So what's the problem here? Don't all kids know the words "penis" and "vagina?" Shouldn't they? So why ignore scrotum?

One school librarian quoted by the NY Times had this to say: “I don’t want to start an issue about censorship, but you won’t find men’s genitalia in quality literature.” Well, maybe she should worry more about sticking her nose where it doesn't belong.

So I say, why pick on scrotum, it's a nice word, a fun word, a playful word - and it's a real body part, too. Don't be afraid of scrotum, use the word proudly and often, fight back against the anti-scrotumers of the world. Scrotums of the world - unite!

THE OIL INDUSTRY: PROFITS BEFORE PEOPLE

Excuse me for a moment while I go find my crying towel. The oil industry, specifically the gasoline refinery companies, are resisting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) efforts to impose limits on benzene in gasoline, a substance harmful to human health. The refiners are crying that these proposed limits, which would become effective in 2015 or even 2030, will cost them too much money to meet. I find it difficult to sympathize with the oil industry on this one, after reading yesterday about the all-time record net income recorded by Exxon Mobil of $39.5 billion in 2006.

An article in The Oregonian today listed three refiners that met with federal officials to push for less strict rules; Tesoro, Sinclair Oil, and Giant Industries. Each of these three firms owns multiple oil refineries. Tesoro had a 2006 net income of $801 million, up about $300 million from 2005. Sinclair, a privately owned firm, had 2005 sales of $5.6 billion. Sinclair owns 3 refineries, about 2,600 gas stations in the U.S., and numerous upscale hotels and resorts. Giant Industries (love the name) had $104 million net income in 2005 from $3.6 billion revenue.

These companies are putting profits before people. The long-term health effects of benzene exposure (source: CDC) include: effects on the blood (harmful effects on bone marrow, decrease in red blood cells, excessive bleeding, immune system effects); leukemia (cancer of the blood-forming organs); possible birth defects (demonstrated in animal studies). This is particularly bad news for people in the Pacific Northwest states, where benzene in gasoline is much higher than the US national average.

The Core Values of Giant Indutries, Inc. are: "Do your best. Do what's right. Treat others the way you would like to be treated." Tesoro Corporation touts it's social responsibility, including environmental responsibility. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world indeed if these were more than words from these industrial giants. Real responsibility would be to step up and say "the health of people is more important than the magnitude of our profits." Don't hold your breath for this to happen - but do hold your breath if you live near automobile exhaust.

CONGRESSMAN BLUMENAUER: NEW DIRECTION FOR IRAQ ACT OF 2007

On January 25, we were at Portland City Hall for the press conference of Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Oregon 3rd District, about his "New Direction for Iraq Act of 2007." Explaining that, for the past six years under Republican control, congressional Democrats could not hold hearings or introduce legislation, Earl presented a summary of his proposed legislation. I'm highlighting this proposed act here because it is a lot more than a plan and timetable for withdrawal of US military forces; Earl's legislation addresses and plans for corrections of the very serious flaws in US actions in Iraq, US foreign policy in the Middle East, and war profiteering resulting from the outsourcing of the war effort. Equally important, the legislation addresses the needs of the Iraqi people for security, jobs, an end to sectarian conflict, and reconciliation. The US has broken Iraq, and Earl's proposed legislation is perhaps our best shot to help mend it.

In their last gasps of administration, the Bushies are still trying to find a way to "victory" by "surging" more US troops into Iraq, and using the same old worn out red herrings that anyone opposing this escalation is "emboldening the enemy." Nothing can embolden the enemies of peace and democracy more than the failed invasion and occupation of Iraq by the Bush Administration, and the continuation of their failed policies. Congressman Blumenauer has proposed a series of reasoned and reasonable steps for coming out of the Iraq mess with the possibility of hope for the Iraqi people, US military forces and their families, and the credibility of our country. It's about time!

Photo: Congressman Earl Blumenauer (foreground), Portland, Oregon Mayor Tom Potter (background); photo copyright: readmyopinion.blogspot.com

BRILLIANT TRANSPORTATION PLAN IMPLEMENTED BY CITY OF PORTLAND

A clever plan to solve Portland's increasing traffic congestion has been quietly implemented by the City of Portland, Oregon. Faced with a rapidly growing population (another one million people in the next 20 years) and a limited capacity to handle traffic, the new City plan makes mass transit use a more attractive option for commuters. The plan is ingenious in it's simplicity: make travel by automobile so difficult, people will flock to mass transit or other options.

Evidence of the Plan is visible everywhere in the city. Closures or lane restrictions on one or more Willamette River bridges, streets closed for construction without adequate warning or signage, detours that lead nowhere, areas of the city that seem impossible to get to from where you are. The frustration of all this makes drivers think about the bus, light rail, streetcar, bicycling, walking, and even The Tram. Brilliant!

The only possible down-side of this plan is the transit mess downtown resulting from new light rail construction. Oh well, nothing is perfect.

OUR COMMON HERITAGE; ALAS, POOR YORICK

It is fitting, on the U.S. holiday Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to contemplate the condition of our world in terms of human relations. There is so much hatred of "the other" that one has to wonder if humanity can survive.

A small science item in the local newspaper truly enlightens the discussion: "Fossil skull offers proof modern humans migrated out of Africa." A team of scientists has concluded that a skull of modern humans (the species Homo sapiens) found about 50 years ago in South Africa closely resembles those of humans in Europe, far-eastern Asia and Australia from the same time period, about 36,000 years ago. This finding corroborates archaeological and genetic evidence by providing a crucial fossil link for the period of 70,000 to 15,000 years ago.

This additional support for the conclusion that modern humans originated in sub-Saharan Africa and migrated to Europe and Asia is meaningful for all people on Earth today: we are all related, and our common ancestors were Africans.

Alas poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio!

THE BUSH IRAQ STRATIGERY

President Bush's speech the other night seems to have been about as convincing as Richard Nixon's statement "I'm not a crook." The way I interpret Bush's bold "new way forward" is that the U.S. will rely on the Iraqi government to provide the security it has never been able to provide. Great plan, George!

I have three key questions that Congress needs to ask, and that President Bush needs to answer, before this new plan is supported:

1. What do the Iraqi people want? I think the Iraqi people should decide whether or not they want an escalation (no Condi, it is not an "enhancement") of the U.S. occupation of their country. Iraq is, after all, a democracy, isn't it?

WPO Report dated January 13, 2007. A new poll of the Iraqi public finds that a large majority of Iraqis think the US plans to maintain bases in Iraq permanently, even if the newly elected government asks the US to leave. A large majority favors setting a timeline for the withdrawal of US forces, though this majority divides over whether the timeline should be over a period of six months or two years. Nearly half of Iraqis approve of attacks on US-led forces—including nine out of 10 Sunnis. Most Iraqis believe that many aspects of their lives will improve once the US-led forces leave, but are nonetheless uncertain that Iraqi security forces are ready to stand on their own.

CNN Report dated September 27, 2006. Seventy-one percent of Iraqis responding to a new survey favor a commitment by U.S.-led forces in Iraq to withdraw in a year.

2. How do you define "victory." President Bush and his apologists insist that the U.S. must have a victory, and that a defeat would be a disaster. But has anyone defined what a victory is, and how we'll know when we have one?

The definition of a victory should be based on achieving the goals of the invasion and occupation. Now, this has been a moving target since the beginning, but this is what I remember:

Mission 1: find and destroy weapons of mass destruction. Well, we looked, and there weren't any, so that mission was accomplished, and that equals victory.

Mission 2 (stated when Mission 1 didn't pan out): depose the evil dictator Saddam Hussein. He was deposed, he was tried, he was hanged. Mission accomplished, and that's a victory.

Mission 3: create a democratic government in Iraq. Well, the Iraqi's wrote a constitution, they had democratic elections, they have a democratically elected government. Mission accomplished, another victory (wow, three for three!!).

So what's the problem here? Come on guys, if fact isn't good enough, certainly Carl Rove can spin it so everyone is convinced that victory is ours!

And by the way, Bush's rhetoric about "winning the war on terror" is a red herring in this conversation. If he wanted to win the so called "war on terror" he should not have established the world's largest terrorist training camp - Iraq - in the first place. Show me the analysis that says Iraq is the key to world terrorism. This is more of the Bush-Cheney scare tactics.

3. What's the price tag for this "surge?" Why would any American buy an expanded occupation in Iraq without first knowing the cost? The Iraq War is not a budget item in The Decider's budget - I have no idea how it's paid for (but I bet my grandkids will find out). A government agency recently published their calculation that this misadventure is costing two billion dollars per week ($2,000,000,000). That's one hundred four billion dollars per year ($104,000,000,000). Who approved that kind of expenditure? Congress needs to get ahold of the purse strings and cut of this irresponsible little boy's allowance, unless he can really justify why American taxpayer money should be spent like this. Talk about fiscal irresponsibility!

So, let's review: the Iraqi people don't seem to want us there, victory has already been achieved at least three times, and this occupation is costing us a fortune, using money that could be doing a lot of good right here at home. And the President wants us to commit more troops (with many more injuries and deaths), many more billions of dollars, and further destroy the reputation of the United States in the eyes of the world.

I would say it's a no brainer.

BYE BYE 2006 - BUY BUY 2007

Another year down the tubes, another year beginning. While I tend to focus on the negative, I am also hopeful that the coming year has the potential to see many positive things happen in the world. I only wish that we in the U.S. of A. had some real leadership.

Our dear President Bush has been talking about "a new way forward." This phrase should actually be in caps because it is his latest slogan (the man loves slogans). The world is anxiously awaiting his message about The New Way Forward in Iraq - I'm not holding my breath.

But Bush gave us a hint of what he's thinking at a recent press conference (might have been December 20th). Here are his words:

As we work with Congress in the coming year to chart a new course in Iraq and strengthen our military to meet the challenges of the 21st century, we must also work together to achieve important goals for the American people here at home. This work begins with keeping our economy growing. … And I encourage you all to go shopping more.

You all certainly remember that this was also his advice to us following the September 11 attacks. Go shopping! The Bush M.O. is very clear - spend, spend, spend. "Strengthen our military" in the above statement translates to "we're going to spend a lot more money on the military" - the cost of the Iraq war is now at $2 billion per week (see footnote). "Meet the challenges of the 21st century" means figuring out new ways for consumers to spend more so Bush's supporters (puppet masters?) can reap even larger obscene profits than they already are (have you read about the record CEO compensation packages in 2006?).

The implications of the Bush "go shopping/spend" policy are very far-reaching. An excellent article by Anatol Lieven discusses the relationship between global warming and western free-market democracy - an important read. A previous post of mine discussed the relationship between American consumerism and global air pollution from China. So don't be fooled by G.W. Bush's down-home folksiness - this is bad shit, and generations to come in the USA and around the globe will be paying for it!

Bye bye '06 - buy buy '07!


Footnote: The number $2 billion is difficult to grasp. Think of it this way - if you are fortunate enough to make a salary of $100,000 per year, it would only take you 20,000 years to earn $2 billion.

REPORT TO GRAND COUNCIL OF SCIENCE FROM INVESTIGATOR QZRKSTYNLPTYR

TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM OF INVESTIGATION
TO: Grand Council of Science
FROM: Investigator Qzrkstynlptyr (8i4412121212zpq)
SUBJECT: Investigation of Planet Blue Liquid (S+3): Preliminary Life Form Observations

Council Members:
I respectfully submit this report as per my investigative assignment under the Inter-Planetary Scientific Survey Protocols of 0695534, Section a666, Sub-x. Since my recent arrival on the Planet Blue Liquid 14 parmuns ago, I have spent considerable time conducting non-contact, non-visible observations to determine which life forms are dominant and potentially approachable. This report summarizes my initial observations of the apparent dominant life form on this planet, which I shall refer to as Life Form D06 (LFD06).

I selected as the setting for my first contact an area known as a "park," based on my observations that the dominant life form frequents these areas regularly. Curiously, all of these creatures bring with them to the park area another life form, which I have coded as LFH8, with which they have a peculiar relationship. Each individual LFD06 in the park area is pulling one specimen of LFH8 by means of a length of material, often a synthetic or hide strap. LFD06 has a loop of material around the area between its head and trunk to which the length of strap is attached; LFH8 appears to be grasping a loop in the other end of the strap in one of its two articulated upper appendages.

I should describe here that LFD06 is a quadra-pedal life form, while LFH8 is typically bi-pedal, but has a second set of appendages with articulated endings with which it manipulates objects. LFD06 is fur-covered over the entirety of its body; LFH8 typically has scant fur except on the head, although many males of the species have much less fur even in that location.

After considerable study of these organisms, I have determined the following behavioral patterns:
1. LFD06 is dominant, and pulls LFH8 behind it, sometimes with great effort, along pathways, through shrubbery, and under trees.
2. LFD06 constantly inhales through special openings in its head as if sampling the air, particularly close to the ground and on vertical objects.
3. LFD06 stops frequently to void liquid, and occasionally to deposit solid material on the ground.
4. LFH8 uses a thin plastic membrane pouch to collect the solid material deposited by LFD06 and transports it for the remainder of the travel through and out of the park area.

My conclusions thus far concerning these behaviors are: a) LFH8 is subservient to LFD06; b) LFD06 has trained LFH8 to follow specific behavioral commands, although LFH8 sometimes exhibits resistance, particularly when being pulled by a strap; c) LFH8 values the solid material deposited on the ground by LFD06 (perhaps as food??), and collects and carries this material with it.

The next phase of my investigation will be to attempt contact with an individual LFD06. I have many questions about this life form, including its relationship with, and apparent tolerance of, the less intelligent LFH8.

Until my next report.

May your quarks flow randomly; may the nebulae align favorably; and may the interests of galactic study always be foremost in your active neurons.

Investigator Qzrkstynlptyr

THE FINEST STRUCTURE CAN HOUSE THE WORST EVIL

"The finest structure can house the worst evil." This was the message inside my fortune cookie today at our neighborhood Chinese restaurant. (I searched the internet for the origin of this saying - all I could find was a lot of other people who had the same message inside their fortune cookies also wondering who said it!) I'm a big fan of fortune cookie wisdom; I have often received sayings that had a particular relevance to my life or my thoughts. This one, received on Christmas Day, is no exception.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the capacity of human beings to perpetrate evil. A headline today about world leaders calling for peace, on Christmas Day, urged me to write about this topic. In many ways, the human animal is "the finest structure," a result of millions of years of evolution (obviously I'm not a creationist). Humans have an intellectual and creative capability that is, as far as we know, superior to any other living organisms on Earth. Part of this superiority is the ability to recognize and distinguish between "good" and "evil" (these words are in quotes because I don't want to even try to define them - I'll leave that to you). But throughout history humans have committed what can only be termed "evil" acts against other humans. A quick trip around the world today finds terrorism, genocide, occupation, torture, bigotry, humiliation, and other actions in every corner. History repeats, and we humans never seem to learn from history. Why?

On a recent "Journey of Peace" to Israel and Palestine, we met with Sari Nusseibeh, a Palestinian, philosopher, and the President of Al Quds University in East Jerusalem. I recently read one of Dr. Nusseibeh's presentations, “Identities in conflict: Masters and Slaves,” given at the International Conference of the Human Development Capability Association in Netherlands, September 2006. His discussion of human identity is very relevant to my questions about evil among humans. Dr. Nusseibeh talks about the "wide range of identity-layers, or layers which together make up or constitute an identity." In other words, each of us has multiple factors which together constitute our identity. Each individual, however, manifests an identity to those around him or her, and the choice of identity is "the degree to which one is a master or slave of one’s identity - a degree which can be taken to be at once a measure of one’s freedom, as well as a function of the propensity to prejudice-propelled conflict or violence."

It is the choice of identity that I believe is the key to understanding the manifestations of evil by humans. Dr. Nusseibeh states that "to the extent that one can make those choices one can be said to be master of one’s identity; and to the extent that one particular layer comes to dominate and in an exclusivist manner therefore to limit one’s choices one’s capability range, or freedom, is diminished, thereby reflecting the transformation of the agent from being master to being a slave of their identity." Do we as individuals consciously choose our identities, or do we allow external factors, including other people, to choose our identities for us? "Are we destined, as human beings, to be victims of our self-prejudiced identities?" Do we make excuses for our own behaviors by blaming the behaviors of others? "If we admit we have been turned into monsters only by the violent actions perpetrated by the other side, what else should we expect to find on the other side as we carry out similar actions but monsters, too."

As "the finest structure," we as humans can choose our identities; we can choose to reject evil and promote good. Humans also have the capacity to teach and learn - we are not just biologically programmed to act out the same behaviors over and over. "Being able to master sufficiently one’s identity, and to shape it, can be a powerful tool in helping shape the identities of others."

My identity as an American is seen by many in the world as the identity projected by the actions of my government, many of which I presently do not support. It is my goal, therefore, to actively choose and present an identity that is aligned with my core values and beliefs. And, while I often find it difficult to maintain a positive attitude about the world and the actions of my fellow humans (read some of my blog posts), I know that I must continue to focus my self-identity on the parts of my humanity that are "good," all the while rejecting "evil" and speaking out against it.

The finest structures can house the worst evil. But the finest structures can also house the greatest good. There are many good people on this planet, and we need to tell their stories more often as examples for hope. The choice between good and evil is ours - each of us - and I still, despite the evil rampant in the world, trust in the true goodness of humanity.

HECKUVA JOB RUMMIE!!

On December 16, 2006, President George W. Bush praised outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in a farewell ceremony. According to the President:

Don Rumsfeld has been at my side from the moment I took office. We've been through war together. We have shared some of the most challenging moments in our nation's history. Over the past six years, I have come to appreciate Don Rumsfeld's professionalism, his dedication, his strategic vision, his deep devotion to the men and women of our nation who wear the uniform, and his love for the United States of America.

Well, I suppose it would be a bit tacky for the President to actually tell the truth about Rummie, so I'll do Mr. Bush a favor and do the dirty work for him.

• Don Rumsfeld's professionalism: "Needless to say, the President is correct. Whatever it was he said." Donald Rumsfeld
• Don Rumsfeld's strategic vision: "Stuff happens. It's untidy, and freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." Donald Rumsfeld
• more strategic vision: "The Gulf war in the 1990s lasted five days on the ground. I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months. But it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that." Donald Rumsfeld
• Don Rumsfeld's deep devotion to the men and women of our nation who wear the uniform: "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time." Donald Rumsfeld
• a combination of strategic vision (military) and devotion to our people in uniform: "We know where they (WMD) are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." Donald Rumsfeld
• another combo, as above: "We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead." Donald Rumsfeld

But why stop here? How about some examples illustrating the need for a sharp mind and a keen sense of the world that makes a Secretary of Defense great?

• "If we left Iraq prematurely, the enemy would tell us to leave Afghanistan and then withdraw from the Middle East. And if we left the Middle East, they’d order us and all those who don’t share their militant ideology to leave what they call the occupied Muslim lands from Spain to the Philippines." Donald Rumsfeld
• "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know." Donald Rumsfeld

Who could have predicted the result of the appointment of Don Rumsfeld to the position of Secretary of Defense? And who can predict how the new Secretary will do?

"I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past - I think the past was not predictable when it started." Donald Rumsfeld

Heckuva job, Rummie!!

Click here for these quotes and more.

DEAR PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD

Sir: Based upon knowing your keen interest in history and the fairness of historical representation, as evidenced by your recent international conference: "Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision," I would like to invite you to a newly announced international conference: "Review of Iranian Whining: Global Historic Revisionism." This conference will examine the truth behind claims by the Iranian people about their history, and reveal many interesting, and sometimes startling, actual facts.

A recent American television propaganda piece about Iran by the Jewish journalist Ted Koppel (whose parents did not escape from Nazi Germany - this is another great lie) included numerous supposedly Iranian people reminding Mr. Koppel that in 1953 the United States had overthrown the democratically-elected Prime Minister of Iran and replaced him with the Dictator, Shah Reza Khan, a puppet of the U.S. The international conference will expose this fraudulent myth for what it is - a fraudulent myth. Iran never had a democratically elected Parliament and Prime Minister; the United States did not overthrow this supposed Prime Minister and put him in jail and house arrest for the remainder of his life; and there never was a Shah Reza Khan - this is one of the Big Lies promulgated by the Iranian people, who are opposed to truth as history (they should be wiped from the map)!

Similarly, there are those among the population of Iran, and other countries I might add, who claim that there was a long war between Iraq and Iran between 1980 and 1988. These same false-witnesses to history also claim, among other lies, that Iraq used chemical weapons against Iranian troops, that some Iranian prisoners of war were not returned until 2003, and - the biggest fabrication of all - that the United States was complicit in its support of Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The infamous photo of the smiling Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein is obviously a photo-shopped fake!

So, Dear President Ahmadinejad, please accept this invitation to our international conference as the Keynote Speaker. Your presence will lend immeasurable legitimacy to this event as a gathering of committed individuals (or those who should be committed). Please tailor your keynote address to the following topic: "History and Truth: Ramblings of a Madman."

Thank you.

ISRAEL - PALESTINE: LIFE IN A HARSH LANDSCAPE

I've developed a habit of studying landscapes as I travel the world. By "studying" I mean not just seeing landscapes as they roll by, but sensing their realities of geology, ecology, and human use. As we've traveled through Israel and Palestine (the West Bank), I've internalized a deep sense of the harshness of the landscape. With the exception of the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, most of what I've seen in those lands is a beautiful, but harsh landscape of desert and rock.

Several years ago we drove the road from Tiberius in the north, south to the Dead Sea and then west to Jerusalem. The highway generally parallels the Jordan Valley, which is seen below as a green ribbon at the boundary of Israel and Jordan. But the more immediate landscape is desert sand and rock - hot, dry and with a sense of unforgiving. We passed small towns and individual dwellings, and imagined the effort needed to scratch out a living from this land.

This year we traveled into northern Israel again, to the area between Haifa and Tiberius, where we have family in the city of Carmiel. This landscape is dominated by rock, as pictured above. As I walked through an undeveloped area on the edge of town to take pictures, even the thorny plants reminded me that this landscape can be unforgiving. The rock itself is old and weathered, appearing ancient like everything else in this land. What stories could the rock relate if I could only find its language?

People occupy landscapes, and often change them to suite their needs. Forests disappear, grasslands yield to pasture and row crops, cities grow where nature once ruled. But there is something about the landscape of Israel/Palestine that conveys the sense that nature rules here. Perhaps the harshness of civilization in this land, the seemingly endless conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians, Arabs (Muslims and Christians) and Jews, Muslims and Christians, is a reflection of the land itself.

For millenia, people have learned to live with and on the harsh landscape of these lands, to accept the land for what it is and reach an accord with it. My hope is that someday people can learn to live with each other, to reach an accord with the social and political landscape and turn its harshness into peace.