Sorry 'Bout the Lack of Updates

I was in a car wreck and spent some time in hospital. Not a good time at all. I'm broken, but alive.

An elderly gentleman crossed into my lane and hit my door(I was driving), and the left side of my body is pretty much screwed up.

Time to call James Sokolove ;)

You know the aphorism: "It's always darkest before the dawn?"

Well, it's not true. It's always darkest before pitch black.

I've been following events from the sidelines. I now really know why I don't watch network television.

I'll update regularly in a week or so. I'm still in quite a bit of physical pain. I'm also left handed, so typing is a one finger, on my right hand, at a time affair.

Thanks for your patience,

todd

Bush: Clueless on Iraq?

No. It's a serious question. In inviting various former defense and state to the White House yesterday, it can be viewed in a bunch of different ways.

Of course the spin is that Bush is reaching out to those on both sides of the issue. That's only a sliver of the truth. The rest of the truth is that the guests were almost certainly going to adhere to the White House line that we need to stay in Iraq now that we've thoroughly screwed the country.

Colin Powell's not uttering a single word speaks volumes.

So, was it just a PR play and photo-op? Yup. Would Bush have altered his course if some dissenter(s) had a far better plan than we currently are pursuing? Not too difficult to answer. His record is abysmal in this area.

Meanwhile, in real serious news, the US State Dept. has some detail of a study of how global warming can cause extreme climate change. How this one got by the censors is beyond me.

Bah. Those 'high-dome boys'(old Popular Science writer's favorite phrase) at the NSF don't know what the hell they're talking about anyway. Too much math involved.

I say screw 'em. Let's keep on accelerating our use of fuels that produce greenhouse emissions, whilst deforesting the planet! We'll find out soon enough if any of this so-called 'scientific' mumbo-jumbo has any merit.

And if these science people are shown to be right, we'll just hop into our hyper-drives and using the nearest wormhole, go and colonize another planet and rape it into inhability.

Jesus Man, I Need A Hit

"Don't bogart that joint, my Lord..."

I knew it. The "J" man was a j-man!

We Broke It..Fu%& 'em

I presume WaPo reported on this yesterday, but I missed it.

According to the Independent, the US may be making plans to cut off monies promised to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure.

Boy, these neo-cons are sure neophytes at winning the hearts and minds game.

Even Baghdad is still without electricity for most of every day.

This is how democracy is spread. No. I think that's incorrect.

This is how terrorism is bred. Yes, I think that closer to the mark.

Where's The Love?

A new Military Times poll shows that support for Georgie and the Excellent Iraq Adventure is slipping amongst the military.

A Pew Research poll taken in November 2005 showed that amongst military "opinion leaders" - senior guys and officer types - showed about an even split on the question whether it was right to invade to Iraq, and 45% responded believed that advocating democracy in Iraq was "a good idea that will not succeed."

Nineteen percent responded it was a bad idea.

Does This Jump Suit Make Me Look Fat?

Abramoff plea bargains

Predictions 2006

Here are my totally unsupported predictions for calendar year 2006. I'll keep it to five, as I have a very short attention spa...uh, where was I going with that?

Without further ado(and in no particular order):

1) Economy

Definite cooling off of the US economy. There are a number of factors for this, but the main contributors are:

A: The housing market, which has shown an accelerating slowing trend. Most of the metrics have peaked and are now either in stasis, or outright decline.

B: The inversion of the bond yield curve. For some background listen to this All Things Considered show of Dec. 28

C: The Copper Indicator. Although it's too early to tell, the price of copper may have peaked, and this is a good indicator of future usage expectations. The price trend is flattening for the first time in over four years.

D: More expensive capital. The Fed seems far from done regarding rate hikes. With the Fed making money more expensive to loan, it is reasonable to assume that GDP will slow, and that doesn't bode well for businesses in particular. Expect more business failures in 2006.

Am I predicting a second Bush recession? Not yet. But the underlying trends that tend to signal an economic slowdown are already in place.

This ends prediction number 1 for 2006.

2) Global climate change will emerge as the sleeper issue of the mid-term elections. Main Street is finally waking up to the strong likelihood that global climate change and ecosystem degradation is the most important long-term issue facing humankind.

Although people tend to vote in accord with their stance on much shorter term issues, this will change. Most Americans are now aware that this is a real issue, much to the chagrin of naysayers on the right.

In the US, the southeast must surely be aware that the weather has been whacky. In Alaska the tundra is thawing and glaciers are receding.

On a bigger scale, the record hurricane/tropical Atlantic storm season won't soon be forgotten.

I'd add much more to this, but my point is essentially made.

This ends prediction 2 for 2006

Russia gets Gas, and Other Stuff

The CS Monitor is reporting that glasnost is officially dead as the Kremlin assumes (rather re-assumes) control of roughly 30% of all Russian petro-assets.

How much more will they grab? Hard to say, but given the West's and the burgeoning Chinese and Indian markets for black gold, no matter how you slice it, it's a damned good business for the state to be involved in.

Russia is the currently the second largest petroducer(new word!) and the Russian state is likely eager to futher 'tap' into this highly lucrative field.

The Monitor reports that:

[...]

A long-delayed law on subsoil resources, to be passed by the Duma next year, is expected to ban foreign-owned companies from exploring or developing Russian oil fields and other key mineral resources.

"Amazing changes are happening swiftly, because Putin has understood that energy is Russia's key card to play at the international table," says Michael Heath, a political analyst with Aton, a Russian brokerage. "Instead of the military force the Soviet Union used to project its power, Russia is using oil as a major tool of foreign policy."

[...]

Much like the US gov't. is heavily involved with the 'defense' industry, Russia is playing to its strength.

While this will be seen as a gigantic step backward from the Russian's particular form of democracy, it is more an evolutionary one.

We've got double secret wiretapping going on in the interest of national security.

Are not Russia's oil reserves a matter of national security?

I'm certainly not condoning either activity. I just bring this up as a countervail to the Right that will pounce on this as a talking point that the Kremlin will simply ignore.

When all is said and done, the US government only really cares about the flow of oil. If the Russian state gives the world a good market rate, we'll be more than accepting of the takeover of the Russian petro-assets.

The US doesn't seem to really concerned about truly open markets, and much less so about democracy, but we need cheap SUV juice dammit! Open markets for the US, and the US only is the true prize.

Capitalism without democracy is okay.
Democracy without capitalism is cause for invasion.

Condemning the Russians for reclaiming their oil assets is not likely to happen in the circles of power where these things are really decided.

The talking heads will continue to parrot Russian civil rights violations, and a return to the Soviet Union's way of conducting the show(our own record in these two areas has been less than exemplary as of late). This has absolutely nothing to do with the real issue.

We need cheap oil. The Russians have oil. The deals are done.

Damned shame, really.

George Makes The News

WaPo is reporting that Bush has been attempting to tailor the news more to his liking.

What a shock!

I'll only give you the first couple of paragraphs:

President Bush has been summoning newspaper editors lately in an effort to prevent publication of stories he considers damaging to national security.

The efforts have failed, but the rare White House sessions with the executive editors of The Washington Post and New York Times are an indication of how seriously the president takes the recent reporting that has raised questions about the administration's anti-terror tactics.

Leonard Downie Jr., The Post's executive editor, would not confirm the meeting with Bush before publishing reporter Dana Priest's Nov. 2 article disclosing the existence of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe used to interrogate terror suspects. Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, would not confirm that he, publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Washington bureau chief Philip Taubman had an Oval Office sit-down with the president on Dec. 5, 11 days before reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau revealed that Bush had authorized eavesdropping on Americans and others within the United States without court orders.

(much more at link)

Well, when you're engaging in all manner of legally grey area activities, it ought to concern you. However, coming clean on these issues rather than attempting to quash reporting on them is the noble thing to do. No one ever accused Bush of nobility.

These articles have nothing to do with national security, and everything to do with White House damage control.

Given the past and present behavior of this White House, it can hardly come as a surprise that a surprise that The Gang is yet again trying to manage the news.

Bush had a fawning press after 9/11. Apparently he still thought that this was the case - and I'm certain that in many instances this is still true - but now it seems that a glimmer of a working democracy is rearing its head.

Can there be any doubt that 'access' was discussed at these meetings?

How disappointing this must be to the reigning monarch.

Add'l: There's a lot more good stuff in the article. a couple of other topics, and of course added color regarding Bush's tactics.

Merry Christmas!

In spite of the allegations that the liberal elites are out to destroy Christmas everywhere, we at pure bs wish to toss some water(no, it's not Holy water, merely tap water) on this non-starter by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!



I guess it's a reindog or something..Close enough to 'Max' in Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas to be hip without stepping on copyright ;)

I have to go 'shred some wiretaps with care, in hopes that my civil rights will still be there.'

Merry X-Mas everyone!

Oh, and for any Right-wingers that think 'X-mas' somehow lessens the impact of Christmas, I suggest that you read up on your Greek. 'X' is derived from the greek word XPIΣTOΣ, which when transliterated(real word, honest!) means Christos. The Greek word for Christ.

XXXtreem Bigotry!

..//Brought to you nearly live by RIGHT-WING PUNDITS!

Todd: Tonight on XXXreem, boy, those RIGHTies are really in the Christmas spirit! And we bring it to you nearly LIVE!

I'm here with my co-host, Tom Hun to discuss the daily savagings of limp-wristed Lefties, non-Aryan culture and a whole host of other topics of import to the RIGHT!

Tonight we look at two items by pillars of the RIGHT, Bill O' Reilly, and Ann Coulter.

Tom, do you have anything to add before we begin our first segment?

Tom Hun: Um, No.

Todd: Thanks ever so much for sharing that insight with our viewers, Tom. You really are a clueless (bleep) aren't you?

Tom: Uh, yes. But I'm pretty.

Todd: I'll pretend you never said that, you useless soiled teabag. Getting back on track, in our opening segment, that bastion of vitriole, Bill "Kill a Hack for Jesus" O'Reilly says this on his 'Daily Hate' radio program:

O'REILLY: All right, "No Spin News" real quick. Transit strike hits New York City. New York says it's against the law. The transit people don't care, and da-da-da -- 33,000 transit employees, and they're gone, so everybody's walking around. There's price gouging. A friend of mine told me that his daughter had to go out to the airport, a run that would cost you 40 bucks, and then somebody wants $300 to take you out there, you know, that kind of thing. Immediately, that person should be shot dead. Did you get that, you left-wing smear sites who are listening? OK? Just pass that around -- "O'Reilly wants cab drivers shot dead" -- big headline on the left-wing website. You gotta give them something, ladies and gentlemen. [laughter] These little weasels.

WOW. Now that's Harsh! Way to go, Billy O!

Tom Hun: You have to love those clipped sentences, Tom. Nothing appeals to the short attention span crowd like...um, where was I going with this?

Todd: Hell if I know, Tom. [laughter] For all I know, You're a closet butt pirate. I have no idea why I just tossed that out, but it's XXXtreem!

Tom Hun: What?

Todd: We'll be RIGHT back after this commercial break! Stay tuned!

Todd: Now, in part two of Hateapalooza 2005, that blonde pundit, Ms..or is it Mr. Tom?

Tom Hun: I dunno, kinda hard to tell. She looks like she might have a package.

Todd: Regardless, Ann "Maim a Kitten, Cuz It's Fun" Coulter writes in her always informative 'Weekly Brownshirt' column:

[...]

Which brings me to this week's scandal about No Such Agency [NSA] spying on "Americans." I have difficulty ginning up much interest in this story inasmuch as I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo.

Damn it, Tom. Ann really puts it together here. Spying on all arabs, pitching daisy cutters recklessly in the cradle of civilization, and all the while never forgetting that all those damned libruls ought to sent to Camp X-Ray! You're Damned Right, Ann!

Anything to add, Tom?

Tom Hun: Just one quick thought, Todd. Coulter missed hitting that one out of the park by not expressly stating that libruls go directly to Gitmo. Habeas corpus is for losers, Todd.

Todd: I'd say pussies, but essentially, you got that RIGHT, Tom![laughter]

Well, we're out of time, and we'll see you RIGHT here next week for another installment of Hard RIGHT unqualified and unresearched news. News for the RIGHT news that matters!

For XXXtreem Bigotry, this is Todd "The Left is Never" Wright, and Tom "I'm named after Attila" Hun, saying So Right! See you next week for our another segment of XXXtreem Bigotry!

Merry Aryan Christmas to you all!

Goodnight everyone!

Tom Hun: Todd, you're a narcissistic bastid.

Todd: Why thank you, Tom. And a Merry Christmas to you as well. You wanna maybe get a drink or something..or something?

*****

Stay tuned to Fox for another episode of Great Reich History, as our expert team of historians examine the 1939 German invasion of Poland in Great Reich History: Blitzkreig, the Poles went crazy over it!.

*****

Many thanks to the folks at Media Matters. The material for our fist segment was taken from this piece. The Ann Coulter item was robbed here. See both pieces for added color and background.

It's all true.

Lest anyone think I've completely left my mind, the above is intended purely as political satire. The statements made by O'Reilly and Coulter are most likely accurate, as Media Matters seldom mis-steps, but fortunately, the balance is pure fancy.

New Stuff Just Around Corner

I know. I haven't been making any entries.

For this I am sorry.

However, I have been following along. The political scene is rife with Abramoff rumors, an Osama myth(okay LIE) has been uncovered, The Iraqis are claiming voting fraud(they truly are on a similar path to democracy as the US), and Time Magazine staff minded its minders by naming yet more Western person(s) as Persons of the Year(admittedly, the Gates foundation and Bono are good choices, great even), but I find this to be the exception.

On that last note, there are some great people doing important work this year that you may wish to consider supporting.

Media issues:

For accuracy in righting the Right consider, the indispensible Media Matters.

Good television:

PBS Link to local station finder

Then there are so many around the globe in need that there is no way for me to compile a list in the few minutes it's taking me to compose this post.

Charity Watch is a good place to start, whilst ReutersAlertnet's searchable NGO database is a good place to start on a quest for a broader international search. In addition ReutersAlertNet also offers an emergency by region page which when you find a cause you'd like to assist with, simply open the link, and get the latest NGO news on the situation.

The caveat here is to always check out the organization before making a donation.

Until I go live with the site redesign ~1 January, I'll be making few entries.

Happy (insert your celebrated holidys here)!

Family arrives tonight. I'll be busy through to Monday. Plus my employer expects me to bloody work tomorrow! The nerve!

I'll be posting a list of 5 predictions for 2006 on 31 December. Stay tuned for the worst forecasting you've ever read!

Oh Yeah..What A Rush

That reflexive anthro-apologist Rush Limbaugh is again claiming madness about humankind's footprint upon the planet.

His climatology credentials are par excellence. As best as I can tell, he has no academic climatic credentials - having lasted but a year in college - and no experiential substance to back up his claims.

I'd say that he just 'makes shit up,' - and yes, he does make a self-referential plug of his own website's 'essential stack of stuff'(subscription required) - but I do not know that this is a fact. One can only imagine the voluminous material of peer-reviewed material refuting ecosystem change walled up in this haven for the latest in scientific debate.(heavy sarcasm)

Media Matters has Rush's latest.

I hesitate to call them lies, as I do not honestly know if Mr. Limbaugh possesses the acumen to differentiate between established fact and fantasy. His record is this area isn't very good.

Getting to the point, Rush claimed that, "[t]here is no evidence that we could destroy ecosystems."

While Media Matters does a good job of dispelling this obvious myth, the BBC's Guide to global environmental environmental issues is chock full of the good stuff.

Two other good sources are Bill Moyers' excellent Earth On Edge series and the World Resources Institute's terrific EarthTrends site. These last two sources are an ecosystem by ecosystem break down as to how far things are already impacted by human activity, as well as projections of future changes.

I don't think that I need to go into the Pleistocene-Holocene extinction event which is almost universally agreed to as being caused by human effect..and is accelerating even now.

A quick primer.

I would have never known about Limbaugh's latest if it was not for the tireless crew at Media Matters. I subscribed to their email updates, and it allows me a glimpse into the 'Right' mind that I would otherwise miss.

As I have stated many times before, I am not an expert on anything but some obscure mathematics, and semiconductor gate process modification.

I'm not a climatologist, but I understand much of the mathematics behind the modeling, and am open to new interpretations of data sets. Mr. Limbaugh cannot alter his positions even when confronted with evidences to the contrary.

His rigidity in thinking is a concern for us all, as Mr. Limbaugh is unfortunately, a primary 'news source' for millions of Americans.

Rush is Wrong.

Hey, look at that. I made an entire post about Limbaugh without mentioning midnight Denny's Oxy runs.

Damn!

Well, almost.

Come on, People. We Just Gotta Spy!

The NYT is reporting that Bush has vigorously defended operation wiretap, while calling for the Senate to reauthorize the PATRIOT Act.

It's comical in a warped sort of way.

As is the norm, the best stuff is mined from the end of the article. According to the Times report, Bush said, "In a war on terror we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment."

Any possible safety garnered from the wiretaps, and the PATRIOT Act have been more than offest by the Iraqi Adventure. Not to mention our pertro-centric middle-eastern policies over the last 50+ years(of which Iraq is merely the latest example)

Sometimes things just aren't a very good idea.

Slavery in the US was once considered essential and legal. Now I'm not foolish enough to equate the onerous provisions of the PATRIOT Act, and wiretaps with slavery, but it is useful to illustrate a point.

I say let's try and be without the PATRIOT Act for a single moment. If we feel brave enough, maybe two, or perhaps three moments.

Remember George, it was you that said if we allow the terrorists to alter our way of life, then they have won(paraphrasing)

Do you really want the terrorists to win, Mr. Bush?

The Ugly Side of Happiness

There is another study confirming what most people know, happy people tend to do better at living.

Unfortunately, I have had to release more happy people for lack of the ability to perform their tasks than their more serious, dour, yet technically more adept engineering colleagues.

It may just be that engineering isn't a people oriented profession. This is of course true. If my HR counterparts prevailed upon applicants that performing partial differential equations AND being jolly were unequally weighted - that the math far outweighs a smile - then maybe I'd have a better employee retention rate.

You'd not likely know it from the tone of this blog, but I am a gregarious and yes, happy guy.

Sure, I rail against injustice, but I feel that to be strongly positive. My colleagues are sometimes put off by my often anarchistic rantings, but I always do it with a smile :)

Verbal Fish Wrap

Sorry for the snarky title to W's Big Event of W's Big Night. Well, okay, I'm not sorry.

Official White House Transcript

For the truly informed dissenter, there is useable material in virtually every paragraph with which to take task.

In a nod to the WoC(War on Christmas), Bush ends his 'speech' with:

Next week, Americans will gather to celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. Many families will be praying for loved ones spending this season far from home -- in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other dangerous places. Our nation joins in those prayers. We pray for the safety and strength of our troops. We trust, with them, in a love that conquers all fear, in a light that reaches the darkest corners of the Earth. And we remember the words of the Christmas carol, written during the Civil War: "God is not dead, nor [does] He sleep; the Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with peace on Earth, goodwill to men."

Just some quick observations from this paragraph.

1) Wiccans, Atheists, Agnostics - you guys don't matter to me.

2) Bush missed the word "does," but he remembered that God is a guy.

Optional: God is alive. He doesn't sleep, and science hasn't progessed since the time of the AMERICAN Civil War. We're so damned Amero-centric that we don't even notice such things.

3) "Right" is capitalized...And the 'Right' shall also prevail.(nod to Karl Rove?)

I do appreciate the sentiment, just not the messenger. Those were originally the words of Lonfellow in the poem, Christmas Bells. Love the coded messages :)

That's all for the moment, gotta feed.

Update: I'd rather not have published this entry. I did so after only ten minutes of waking from the evening's slumber. But I did, so I'll let it stand.

Bush's Big Night!

Gotta love the CNN Headline: Bush: Iraq pullout would hurt credibility

I'm betting that Barbara Bush is ruing the fact that '41' didn't 'pullout' early ;)

Senior's um, error has cost the US any shred of credibility we might once have had.

All I can add is 'thank Nature' that this is the last in Bush/Iraq war series of propaganda messages speeches.

In related news, Russ Feingold reminded folks that Bush is acting like "King George Bush" over the wiretapping fiasco.

Note to self: If anyone uses the term 'Tapgate,' Wiretapgate,' or other such silly monikers to describe this situation, I shall hunt them down and.....No, Todd. Bad, Todd. Bad.

It's really unfortunate that I won't be able to watch Action George deliver his address this evening. I have to change cat litter or something ;)

A special shout out to Bill O'Reilly, who I would like to wish a Happy Ramadan!

I know I'm a few months late, but with Bill being a few centuries out of touch, I don't believe he'll notice.

Allahu Akhbar, Bill!

Oh, and by the way, Bill, you are one letter away from being black. You are only one mutation away from being cool. Well, maybe more than one. Later, bro!         *shiver*

I'll be back to my usual blogging blather with the turn of the new year. For now, I'm just keeping the spirit alive. Fight the machine!

The White House: More Of The Shame..

..Another day, another scandal at the Bush White House.

What the hell was that whole bit about restoring dignity to the Office he was driveling about 5 years hence? I dunno.

Anyhow, the WH has admitted that The Boy authorized spying on citizens. Bushy boy(Dick's toy) then has the gall to aver that the Senate's non-vote on the very PATRIOT Act that was at the heart of his 007ish conduct? I see, it's the Senate that is being irresponsible? WTF, Geo?

I have also been following O'Reilly's rabid rants about the imminent demise of all things Christian. Media Matters gives me all the O'Reilly I can digest. What a true assclown.

To the eight GOP cultists that litened to today's radio address, you'd have my condolences - IF you could think for yourselves! To borrow from Nike: "Just do it!"

I have been following along. Honest. It's just that with the holidays, my mother, trying to set-up some new electronic gear, and a myriad of other things, I haven't had much of a chance to rant.

Since it is the Anti-Christ(mas) season, hop on over to ReutersAlertNet, poke around, and give if you can.

(Just so no one thinks that I am anti-Christian, the above comment was made in the lowest spirit of humor..Simply a jab at O'Reilly ;)

I am doing physical stuff as well. I cut up some 25mm Medium Density Fibreboard(AKA MDF AKA Particle board) for some loudspeakers I helped design. Well, essentially, I did the work for the crossover network. The cabinet size, bracing, drivers, and a host of other things were selected by the wacky, but knowledgeable folks over at Parts Express, whose debt I shall never be able to repay. It's very cool to get free advice from audio engineer PhDs, as well as really bright enthusiasts.

Parting shot.

George says: "Wiretaps without oversight saves lives in the Warren Terrah." Maybe. We'll never know.

Todd says: "Bush's lack of respect for anything concerning the environment will likely be his legacy."

Not Iraq. Iraq is temporal, no matter how well, or poorly, things go there. I do hope that the Iraqis get what they need to live in peace.

'Planet Killer George' carries with it an undeniable element of fact. That his 8 years in office were marked by obvious climatic effect, and he chose to do nothing of substance about it; that my dear readers is what the petro-soaked boy from Connecticut will be remembered. If civilization survives in any recognizable form.

That's your daily dose of hyperbole from the angry environmentalist.

Just another scandalous day of pure bs™ served steaming hot - courtesy of the 'Hassen bin Sober' White House.

Of Bush's Mea Culpa and Jellyfish

It seems as though Bush's Iraq Speech Series© has been given a 'thumbs up' by the majority of the MSM, and yes, the invertebrates in Congress(even some Dems.) because of his acceptance of 'responsibility' for taking us into war based on flawed intelligence.

If you've been following along, Bush has had TWO YEARS to utter these words. This is what passes for as leadership in this issue? In the private sector, this sort of BS would have you at the unemployment line faster than(ya know, something really fast, a speeding bullet, a runaway train, a White House smearing of a political foe, maybe a sexual harassment allegation?)

Look, the guy said, "It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong." But there is plenty of evidence to the contrary, showing that pre-war intelligence that did not validate the use of force in Iraq - which has been a neo-con dream for over a decade - was merely pushed aside.

For more color on this issue see Seymour Hersh's excellent The Stovepipe.

In this WaPo piece no mention is given to the now voluminous amounts of material that questioned the White House's own intelligence gathering apparratus, the White House Iraq Group. The WHIG members read like a who's who on Prosecutor Fitzgerald's indictment trail.


I don't think it necessary to elucidate the statements made by former White House officials, Richard A. Clarke(picked by four presidents for anti-terrorism roles) and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who when famously interviewed on 60 Minutes said about the Bush Administration:

"From the very beginning[of Bush's first term], there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go."

Was the intelligence bad? Absolutely.

But, had all the intelligence been properly vetted - especially the nuclear weapons reconstitution program intelligence - then the case for an invasion would most likely have never been deferred to the President by Congress.

I'm not even going to include the statements of pet Iraqi exiles such as Ahmed Chalabi, or the admissions wrought from Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi under what is now apparently tortuous conditions.

Yes, Mr. Bush. The intelligence was bad. What you need to do is level with the American people, and tell us why the intelligence was bad. Spill the beans.

I know that you and your handlers are justifiably fearful of letting some nasty facts enter the public consciousness, but after all that you've put us through the last five years, it is the least that you can do.

I don't expect much from the media, but how about both Repubs. and Dems. demanding the whole truth, not some rubber-stamped milquetoast non-admission by BushCo.

Get me some vertebrates. Stat!

I hope that from the tone of this entry that it is not viewed as political humor. Although it was great fun in the penning of this piece. It is still a serious matter that needs to be truly addressed.

By the way, I'll give you a buck if you promise to hold your breath waiting for a full White House disclosure ;)

Sorry 'bout That

My lack of updates, that is..I have been following along, but time constraints and my work schedule has not permitted me to properly maintain the blog over the last week.

In a VERY small effort to atone for these transgressions, I offer the following observation.

This week(two days ago, in fact) President Bush acknowledged that 30,000 Iraqi civilians had died as a result of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Admittedly, I haven't read a great deal of commentary this week, and even less radio and TV, but I have yet to hear anyone discuss the 1,000,000 that died as a result of the decade plus of UN(essentially US sanctions against Iraq) and any estimates of how many more Iraqis are likely to die as a result of our 'interventions.'

That the situation remains grim in much of the country is beyond debate.

Bush also made the oblique 9/11-Saddam reference this week. If this was indeed retribution for 9/11, wouldn't a ten Iraqis to one American ratio seem a bit extreme?

I'm well aware that most people view their own as more valuable than 'the other,' but the mis-leader of the (erstwhile) free world should grasp the political realities of treating 'the other' inequitably.

A real issue that isn't getting the airtime that it should, save for some of the foreign press is the humanitarian crisis in post-earthquake Pakistan/Kashmir. Commendably, ReutersAlertNet has been covering the tragedy with the necessary balance of cool-headedness, while sounding the alarm. The Himalayan earthquake is shaping up to be the number 2 humanitarian cris of 2005. Katrina, while tragic, is minor by comparison.

Feel like reading?.

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Okay, in other stuff, I am still working on a total site overhaul, and will be sticking with Blogger for now. If I ever get a larger readership, I'll move to a different platform, but for now, free is good. Launch date: 01-01-2006

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The major environmental post I promised, is still in the works. I'd like to publish one major article per week. That's part of the site overhaul.

I'm also considering doing a three panel comic strip. Since I have no ability ot draw beyond the VERY rudimentary level, I have a cartoonist that's really talented to help out.

I'm looking to add three weekly features in 2006. I think that's as much as I can promise and deliver on.