If you needed any more proof that we have become a nation of sheep, just fly somewhere. Since 9/11, the usual chutes herding us from door to door are supplemented with the TSA, the “Transportation Security Administration” Grumbling about the inconvenience is checked by the awareness that any behavior judged even mildly individualistic might be punished. Complain too loudly and you will be detained and miss your flight. A little louder and you are subject to a body cavity search or arrest.
Independent tests have shown the ineffectiveness of the TSA. Knives have been inadvertently left on planes by cleaning and repair crews. Explosives can be smuggled as constituents. Even a cursory examination of the 'secure' areas suggests obvious holes, some as simple as running up a down escalator to the baggage claim. Liquids and gels are the latest scare. Since we are ourselves just an organized collection of liquids and gels, figuring out how to defeat these restrictions does not require much imagination.
The rules of hijacking were rewritten by 9/11 on 9/11. The tried-and-true response before was to negotiate while the hijacker was allowed to take the plane where they wanted. The rules changed the instant that it became clear that the 9/11 hijackers had no demands so there would be no negotiations. This change occurred instantly. United Flight 93, the one that crashed in Pennsylvania, did not reach its target because the passengers were aware of their stark choice: do nothing and certainly die or do something and maybe live. (Among sheep, their choice passes for heroism.) The official rules, which changed soon after, no longer allowed the hijacker into the cockpit. These simple, new rules instantly dropped the chance of a repeat to near zero.
We are not safer today than on 9/12/2001. Stop the madness. Stop the Totally Senseless Administration.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
Global Suffocation
“Global warming” actually sounds kind of nice, even a little comforting. Feel a chill? Well, don't worry, the whole globe is warming up just to keep you comfy! To get action, to galvanize public outrage, we need a better name. We should call it what it is: global suffocation.
The warming is anyway just a symptom of the problem: increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. This is due to man's burning fossil fuels and destroying the ecosystems of living plants in forests, praries, wetlands, oceans, etc. Everyone knows temperatures fluctuate – daily, seasonally, yearly. But since the industrial age, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels go only one way -- upward at an increasing rate. Any doubts whether CO2 levels are rising are dispelled by the data, just the facts, provided here courtesy of wikipedia. [The timeline on the x axis would be better shown reversed, history moving to the right, but look at the numbers: already over a record 375 ppm and increasing rapidly.]
You suffocate when you cannot get enough oxygen. Oxygen is removed from the air when it combines with carbon in fossil fuels to produce carbon dioxide. When we burn carbon (gasoline, diesel, natural gas, coal), we are slowly, imperceptibly suffocating ourselves. A simple, true statement.
The warming is anyway just a symptom of the problem: increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. This is due to man's burning fossil fuels and destroying the ecosystems of living plants in forests, praries, wetlands, oceans, etc. Everyone knows temperatures fluctuate – daily, seasonally, yearly. But since the industrial age, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels go only one way -- upward at an increasing rate. Any doubts whether CO2 levels are rising are dispelled by the data, just the facts, provided here courtesy of wikipedia. [The timeline on the x axis would be better shown reversed, history moving to the right, but look at the numbers: already over a record 375 ppm and increasing rapidly.]
You suffocate when you cannot get enough oxygen. Oxygen is removed from the air when it combines with carbon in fossil fuels to produce carbon dioxide. When we burn carbon (gasoline, diesel, natural gas, coal), we are slowly, imperceptibly suffocating ourselves. A simple, true statement.
Justice timed is politics as usual
Justice delayed is justice denied. Gladstone
The trial of Saddam Hussein on charges he ordered hundreds of innocent people killed in revenge for an assassination attempt has come to its predictable conclusion: guilty. What are the odds that after so many months, the verdict would be delivered on the weekend before a midterm US election? Another time, it might have been thought mere coincidence. With the gang squatting in the White House, what once might have been considered cynicism is now realism.
These predictable verdicts are only the gloss on Hussein's crimes. Prosecution lawyers are not permitted to investigate American culpability in providing Hussein with weapons, satellite imagery, and other intelligence for use against Iran and misuse against internal enemies. Defense lawyers are often simply killed. This is a sad example of American justice in Babylon, the land of Hammurabi, who defined justice for millennia. The Bush League rewrite of Hammurabi would be "innocent until suspected".
The trial of Saddam Hussein on charges he ordered hundreds of innocent people killed in revenge for an assassination attempt has come to its predictable conclusion: guilty. What are the odds that after so many months, the verdict would be delivered on the weekend before a midterm US election? Another time, it might have been thought mere coincidence. With the gang squatting in the White House, what once might have been considered cynicism is now realism.
These predictable verdicts are only the gloss on Hussein's crimes. Prosecution lawyers are not permitted to investigate American culpability in providing Hussein with weapons, satellite imagery, and other intelligence for use against Iran and misuse against internal enemies. Defense lawyers are often simply killed. This is a sad example of American justice in Babylon, the land of Hammurabi, who defined justice for millennia. The Bush League rewrite of Hammurabi would be "innocent until suspected".
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Iraq-nam
“Iraq is Vietnam.”
Right! says the Administration: we are winning the war but just like Vietnam, the Democrats will cut off support for our troops and the struggling government. This is Henry Kissinger's version of the history of Vietnam – we (actually, he) won the war but Congress withdrew support too early. Translation: stay the course despite the undeniable evidence of failure.
Right! Say the Democrats, we are bogged down in a hopeless war and should either change course dramatically or just leave ASAP. As John Kerry said about Vietnam: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” Translation: cut and run despite the likelihood that this will produce a humanitarian and geopolitical nightmare.
Wrong! I say: Vietnam was a minor country, technologically backward and on the edge of nowhere. Iraq is a major country, technologically capable, in a fragile region and possessor of critical oil resources. The global economy will be hurt – and terrorists helped – by our rushed withdrawal. Translation: the consequences of failure in Iraq are much worse than they were in Vietnam.
After Gulf War I, George the First encouraged the Shiites to rise up against Saddam Hussein, suggesting that we would help them. They did but we didn't, and they died by the tens of thousands when Hussein brutally suppressed the uprising. George II started Gulf War II, which deposed Hussein and encouraged the most noble and self-sacrificing Iraqis to risk everything to build a democratic and multi-ethnic nation. But the appalling ineptitude of the Bush administration has ensured that any hope for a new Iraq – always faint – is now almost certainly gone.
In the end, we will abandon these brave people, leaving them at the mercy of the lowest and most despicable among them, just as we did the Shiites and the Vietnamese. That's how Iraq is like Vietnam.
Right! says the Administration: we are winning the war but just like Vietnam, the Democrats will cut off support for our troops and the struggling government. This is Henry Kissinger's version of the history of Vietnam – we (actually, he) won the war but Congress withdrew support too early. Translation: stay the course despite the undeniable evidence of failure.
Right! Say the Democrats, we are bogged down in a hopeless war and should either change course dramatically or just leave ASAP. As John Kerry said about Vietnam: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” Translation: cut and run despite the likelihood that this will produce a humanitarian and geopolitical nightmare.
Wrong! I say: Vietnam was a minor country, technologically backward and on the edge of nowhere. Iraq is a major country, technologically capable, in a fragile region and possessor of critical oil resources. The global economy will be hurt – and terrorists helped – by our rushed withdrawal. Translation: the consequences of failure in Iraq are much worse than they were in Vietnam.
After Gulf War I, George the First encouraged the Shiites to rise up against Saddam Hussein, suggesting that we would help them. They did but we didn't, and they died by the tens of thousands when Hussein brutally suppressed the uprising. George II started Gulf War II, which deposed Hussein and encouraged the most noble and self-sacrificing Iraqis to risk everything to build a democratic and multi-ethnic nation. But the appalling ineptitude of the Bush administration has ensured that any hope for a new Iraq – always faint – is now almost certainly gone.
In the end, we will abandon these brave people, leaving them at the mercy of the lowest and most despicable among them, just as we did the Shiites and the Vietnamese. That's how Iraq is like Vietnam.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Cheerleader-in-Chief
Anyone who thinks George W. Bush has suddenly started pondering the similarity between Vietnam and Iraq should take a deep breath. The world was not turned upside down overnight. He is merely practicing the new party line. It goes like this:
Ok, it's doesn't even rhyme, but given the current state of Republican fortunes, it almost makes sense and certainly gives cheer.
But seriously, all successful insurgencies have common themes, whether they are Vietnamese, Shiite, or the Founding Fathers of America. They make the controlling power hurt. It cannot be denied: the US is losing people and money at an unsustainable rate. What are our options? Sadly, we will accept “cut and run” with a James Baker 3rd imprimatur and Nixon echo and learn to like it ... after the election and another few hundred or thousand American lives.
the insurgents know about the election;
the insurgents want the Democrats to win;
you should not want what the insurgents want;
you should vote Republican.
Ok, it's doesn't even rhyme, but given the current state of Republican fortunes, it almost makes sense and certainly gives cheer.
But seriously, all successful insurgencies have common themes, whether they are Vietnamese, Shiite, or the Founding Fathers of America. They make the controlling power hurt. It cannot be denied: the US is losing people and money at an unsustainable rate. What are our options? Sadly, we will accept “cut and run” with a James Baker 3rd imprimatur and Nixon echo and learn to like it ... after the election and another few hundred or thousand American lives.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Korean Mushrooms Glow in the Dark
North Korea exploded a nuclear bomb – a small one that was more “fizzle” than shizzle but still scary. Five years after Bush placed it on the "axis of evil", North Korea has gone from a wanna-be to a bona fide member of the nuclear club. Containment is another miserable failure of the Bush administration. Why did this happen? Three reasons: pride, fear and desperation - theirs and ours.
Pride. Their national pride is boosted by this demonstration of technical skill. The Bush administration is too proud to abandon even clearly failed policies – in this case, the refusal to negotiate face-to-face with the North Koreans. They have crossed line after "line in the sand" without consequences, yet Secretary Rice has the temerity to draw another at them supplying the bomb to others. Maybe she and her boss should coordinate better – Bush says he doesn't accept the status quo. Instead of drawing (another) line in the sand, he has his head in the sand.
Fear. Having seen what the US did against Iraq, every dictator in the world knows that conventional arms won't deter the US. The North Koreans can hold the South hostage even without a proven missile. The fear of a nuclear armed Korean missile is unfounded but played up by the Bush administration seeking to justify the white elephant missile defense system. The fear of adverse consequences have been gutted by this administration's decision to welcome India and Pakistan back as favored nations despite their violations of the non-proliferation treaty.
Desperation. The North Koreans are desperately poor and isolated. This administration stopped food and fuel oil shipments, sinking the poorest even further. The Bush administration is also desperate and growing even more desperate with every report of a probable Democratic take over of Congress.
Diplomacy is the sole arena that this administration won't “go it alone”. We go to war practically alone. We ignore the world on climate change. We unilaterally abandon international rules on prisoners of war. But we refuse to negotiate. President Kennedy said
Secretary Rice, Representative Bolton, and the administration are thrilled that they got a UN agreement supporting sanctions against North Korea. These sanctions will block luxury items shipped to North Korea on the grounds that they are destined solely for dictator Kim Jong Il. As if we could actually regulate the tiny trade volume this represents! Let's call this is the Marie Antoinette 'solution': let them (not) eat cake.
Pride. Their national pride is boosted by this demonstration of technical skill. The Bush administration is too proud to abandon even clearly failed policies – in this case, the refusal to negotiate face-to-face with the North Koreans. They have crossed line after "line in the sand" without consequences, yet Secretary Rice has the temerity to draw another at them supplying the bomb to others. Maybe she and her boss should coordinate better – Bush says he doesn't accept the status quo. Instead of drawing (another) line in the sand, he has his head in the sand.
Fear. Having seen what the US did against Iraq, every dictator in the world knows that conventional arms won't deter the US. The North Koreans can hold the South hostage even without a proven missile. The fear of a nuclear armed Korean missile is unfounded but played up by the Bush administration seeking to justify the white elephant missile defense system. The fear of adverse consequences have been gutted by this administration's decision to welcome India and Pakistan back as favored nations despite their violations of the non-proliferation treaty.
Desperation. The North Koreans are desperately poor and isolated. This administration stopped food and fuel oil shipments, sinking the poorest even further. The Bush administration is also desperate and growing even more desperate with every report of a probable Democratic take over of Congress.
Diplomacy is the sole arena that this administration won't “go it alone”. We go to war practically alone. We ignore the world on climate change. We unilaterally abandon international rules on prisoners of war. But we refuse to negotiate. President Kennedy said
Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.Kennedy and his administration were capable, confident people who were comfortable with free exchanges of ideas, not cronies who are (rightly) afraid that they are out of their depth. The current crop rely on bluster to silence opposition. This is lethal against their arch enemies, the Democrats, but impotent against the real enemies of America. A measure of how low we've sunk is that former Secretary of State (and permanent Bush family consigliere) James Baker 3rd, who led the illegal Iran-Contra idiocy of the Reagan-Bush administrations, looks like an eminence grise.
Secretary Rice, Representative Bolton, and the administration are thrilled that they got a UN agreement supporting sanctions against North Korea. These sanctions will block luxury items shipped to North Korea on the grounds that they are destined solely for dictator Kim Jong Il. As if we could actually regulate the tiny trade volume this represents! Let's call this is the Marie Antoinette 'solution': let them (not) eat cake.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Amish Amen
The families of the school girls killed in Pennsylvania are not only mourning their dead but also praying for the killer and his family. This evidence of profound belief and grace can restore one's faith in humanity, so sorely tried in such cases. These are clearly people who know the meaning of the phrases, such as the “sanctity of life”, that are tossed around so casually and often cynically by our politicians. May their moral consistency be a guide for us all.
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