Jetlag

Went to sleep at 10. It's 3:30 now and I'm wide awake. Wonderful.

So I wanted to go over some thoughts I had while in Europe. I got absolutely no news from the States, just a snippet of Chimpy's speech to the Border Patrol on the Beeb. I saw an Arizona state flag so I guess it was there. But I was exposed to Americans.

While I'm in Europe, I try to avoid Americans at all costs. It isn't hard. They're usually the loudest, most obnoxious and stand out among tourists of many a stripe. I'm sure the natives look at us the same way. A hint: Just because you are yelling "DO - YOU - TAKE - CREDIT - CARDS?" over and over, louder and more slowly each time, at the store clerk, it won't make him/her understand you any better. You just look like an idiot. Whip out your Visa and lay it down, it's a modern country, trust me.

Next, when you're in arguably the most romantic bistrot in the 7eme Arrondissment and you're eating the most increible meal you'll probably have in your miserable life, don't be going on about how the French hate us and are a buncha assholes for not going to Iraq. There's something called class, what the wait staff treated you with even though they understood every word you said. Trust me, they did. Also, the rest of the patrons who are enjoying the romance of the moment don't need to hear it.

Next, contrary to popular belief, the French don't hate us. Most speak English and don't demand you speak French. A simple "bon jour" when you enter an establishment will garner a smile. They'll figure out how to help you and do it gladly. In several trips to the city, I have yet to encounter a cross word or a superior attitude. Don't come with one and you'll have no problems.

After spending a good part of my life in Europe, I've come to see the change in the perception of Americans over the past 35 years. When I was young, America was a society to be emulated. I saw it in the eyes of friends and relatives when they spoke of our great nation. Now we're seen as obnoxious bullies, most of us anyway, and need to be handled rather than respected. It's respect that we're lacking; a respect for cultures thousands of years older than ours. Take it from me, ladies and germs, they must be doing something right to last so long.

And just a note to the idiot who left his bag outside the bathroom in Charles DeGaulle Airport when he went in to take a leak. You're a fucking ASSHOLE!

Back in the New York groove

Just got in and I got about a million emails. I'll be up here tomorrow. Short version: Vacation was great, getting home was a bitch - including an evacuation of the terminal at Charles DeGaulle Airport for an unattended bag - but we're home. I'll post more in depth and put up a couple more pics. We had a snowstorm the other day too. Ausgezeichnet, as you'll see. Thanks for taking up the slack, guys.

Update:

I'm trying to stay up late to beat the jet lag and get my body back in the proper time zone. I fully planned to post while I was there, bringing my laptop and all accoutrement. Unfortunately 2 problems arose. One, my battery in the laptop is shot and I didn't know it until I tried to use it. Okay, I got a charger and I could run it on AC power. And then the second problem arises, I forgot to load my wi-fi software. That was a surprise. Couldn't find a place with a hardwired connection. At least I could download the pics I took every day. To wit, in no particular order:

Paris - Part 1
Paris - Part 2
Paris - Part 3
Retirement Home

Ah, History...

From The Guardian (UK):

There is a remarkable article in the latest issue of the American Jewish weekly, Forward. It calls for President Bush to be impeached and put on trial "for misleading the American people, and launching the most foolish war since Emperor Augustus in 9 BC sent his legions into Germany and lost them".

To describe Iraq as the most foolish war of the last 2,014 years is a sweeping statement, but the writer is well qualified to know.

He is Martin van Creveld, a professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and one of the world's foremost military historians. Several of his books have influenced modern military theory and he is the only non-American author on the US Army's list of required reading for officers.

The articles go on at great length (you know how historians are) to basically state that Bush, not content with merely stepping on his own dick, has stepped on the whole world's pecker, and the Guardian piece ends thus:

The inescapable fact is that the processes Mr Bush unleashed on March 20 2003 (and imagined he had ended with his "mission accomplished" speech six weeks later) will take a decade or more to run their course and there is little that anyone, even the US, can do now to halt them.

In his eagerness for regime change in Iraq, Mr Bush blundered into a trap from which in the short term there is no way out: the Americans will be damned if they stay and damned if they leave.

Impeachment would be a start.

Update:

There's a fine interview with Dr. van Creveld at Sonshi.com.

As you will see in our interview with him, he did not mince words with us. And we wouldn't want it any other way. When we informed him of a news article about how Bush officials bristle at the suggestion the war in Iraq looks like Vietnam, he replied, "Well, let them do some bristling. These people should be impeached, tried and punished for misleading the American people into a senseless war. They can then spend their time in prison reading Clausewitz and Sun Tzu." (my bold) Whether you agree or disagree, Martin van Creveld's words have substance and are not mere conjecture. Dismiss them at our nation's peril.

Go read all of this stuff. Give yourself as many History credits as you want.

Bye Bye Cdr. Crotchrocket...

Democratic Veteran, a former Naval Aviator his own self, takes a look at Richie Randy Cunningham:

Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a Navy "ace" so close to being booted out of the Navy for being a piss-poor officer, before he shot down his last MiG is finally reaping the fruits of his own stupidity. Met Duke as a passing acquaintance when he was the (no shit) senior pilot in his squadron flying Phantooms off the Coral Maru. He was a legend in his own mind. A hell of a pilot though...unfortunately for him, being a hell of a stick is not always enough to build a successful Navy career on...

I'd be in a more celebratory mood about this one, but Duke was never the sharpest tool in the shed. He wasn't even a really nice guy...he just cut a swath with all his bullshit and bravado, and hoped to coast on his rep for life, without ever accomplishing anything meaningful.

I guess you can say this about Duke ... he'll probably be "born yet again" in prison, and have a felony conviction in common with his son...

I guess we can add crime to the list of father & son activities right after riding dirt bikes. You can crash & burn doing either one.

Oops. Heh.

From AlterNet:

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, flubbed Monday and referred to Iraq as Vietnam while commenting on Fox News against an immediate troop withdrawal.
"The Democratic Party seems to be taken over by the Michael Moore contingent in their attitude toward Vietnam, and they continually call for a withdrawal of troops at a time when we haven't finished the job," Hatch said on the network's morning show. Hatch's spokesman acknowledged the error, which was first reported on the American Prospect Web log.

Apparently Faux News didn't call him on it. That doesn't surprise me as they neither know what's going on, nor would they ever contradict a Republican.

Cheer up, Senator. It's not quite as bad as calling your wife by your mistress's name!

Oh Boy! Another special election!

I thought Ah-nold could appoint someone to fill Cunningham's House seat. I was glad to see this in the LATimes.

SAN DIEGO - Once Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger receives official notification of the resignation of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe), he has two weeks to call a special election in the 50th Congressional District. Unlike a Senate vacancy, he cannot appoint a successor.

The law allows the governor to tack an election onto a previously scheduled election, so a special election to complete Cunningham's term could be held in June, when a primary will be held anyway for candidates seeking a full two-year term in Cunningham's old district.

It remains to be seen what he will do. In the meantime, I wonder if the folks in that district will even notice they don't have a congresscritter.

I hope Cunningham's guilty plea starts a trend. I think all the (mostly Republican) Representatives that are under investigation and indictment do the same. It's win-win. Plead guilty, roll over on a few cronies, spend less time in jail, and we are spared the expense and delay of a trial.

Longer needles needed...

I thought this article in the LATimes was apropos after Thanksgiving:

Fatter rear ends are causing many drug injections to miss their mark, requiring longer needles to reach buttock muscle, researchers said today.

I bet scientists are standing in line to get that dream research job!

Pain and Politics of Ground Zero

A detailed article on the controversy regarding families of some who died at the WTC on 9-11.

The Grief Police
No one says the 9/11 families aren't entitled to their pain. But should a small handful of them have the power to reshape ground zero?

The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon left us with a total of 2,933 people recorded dead. Liberally speaking, that could mean that as many as 10,000 or 15,000 parents and children and siblings might be inclined to stay involved in the rebuilding of ground zero-this, not including the thousands of survivors of the attacks, the dozens of first responders who made it out alive, and all their families.

In reality, it's more like 30. Not 30,000, but 30. It's only 30 people like Ielpi who have kept their hands in the game by regularly attending planning meetings, helming Websites, filing lawsuits, and fighting political battles-over the security of new skyscrapers, the burial of unidentified remains, the separate placement of the names of firefighters among the lists of the dead, the size of a memorial. When rallies are held-like the one last month to preserve the human remains from the site that are still stored at Fresh Kills-these 30 people draw at most a few hundred.

Of the 30 hard-core activists, just half are part of Take Back the Memorial. It's these fifteen people who have come to stand, in the eyes of the public, for the views of all 9/11 families-even though many 9/11 family members supported the IFC and other ground-zero development as well. "I personally do not represent the families," says Paula Grant Berry, who lost her husband, David, on 9/11, and is the only family member to have served on the panel that chose Arad's memorial design. "No family member can. I wouldn't know where to begin. Just because you're a family member doesn't mean you can't be manipulative. And just because you're a family member doesn't mean you can't be manipulated by other family members."

No one, not even the Take Back the Memorial members' most bitter opponents, denies the families their grief and the substance of at least some of their arguments. But however heartbreaking their stories-and however relevant the concern that future generations remember what happened that September morning-the Take Back the Memorial members are far from the only interested parties at ground zero. Thousands of people who live and work downtown are still waiting for shops and services. Thousands of workers-many of them survivors, too, who saw bodies fall and ran for their lives as the towers collapsed-are pained by the still-gaping pit and are waiting for a new center for international commerce to curb the loss of Wall Street jobs.

Enraptured of the Rapture

There's nothing more scary than a fanatic:

American "Rapture"
Best-selling author and evangelical leader Tim LaHaye has contacts that extend to the White House. That could spell trouble, since his theology espouses a bloody apocalypse in Israel

As we walk down from the top of the hill of Megiddo, one of them looks out over the Jezreel Valley. "Can you imagine this entire valley filled with blood?" he asks. "That would be a 200-mile-long river of blood, four and a half feet deep. We've done the math. That's the blood of as many as two and a half billion people."

When this will happen is another question, and the Bible says that "of that day and hour knoweth no man." Nevertheless, LaHaye's disciples are certain these events—the End of Days—are imminent. In fact, one of them has especially strong ideas about when they will take place. "Not soon enough," she says. "Not soon enough."

If such views sound extraordinary, the people who hold them are decidedly not. For the most part, the people on the tour could pass for a random selection culled from almost any shopping mall in America. There are warm and loving middle-aged couples who hold hands. There is a well-coiffed Texas matron with an Hermès scarf. There's a ducktailed septuagenarian and a host of post-teen mall rats. There are young singles. One couple even chose this trip for their honeymoon. A big-haired platinum blonde with a white sequined cowboy hat adds a touch of Dallas glamour. There is a computer-security expert, a legal assistant, and a real-estate broker; a construction executive, a retired pastor, a caregiver for the elderly, and a graduate student from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. They hail from Peoria, Illinois, and Longview, Texas, as well as San Diego and San Antonio. Most are fans of the "Left Behind" books. Some have attended the Left Behind Prophecy Conference on one of its tours of the U.S.

And while their beliefs may seem astounding to secular Americans, they are not unusual. According to a Time/CNN poll from 2002, 59 percent of Americans believe the events in the book of Revelation will take place.

This is an fairly large size article that's worth the read. Keep in mind that Bush at least pays lip service to them.

Woodward According to Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron, Hollywood director, writer, and ex-wife of Carl Bernstein writes of her observations of Bob Woodward.

Nora Ephron, Bernstein's Ex, "Explains" Woodward

...four "truths" about Woodward.

Truth #1: He is not a liar.

But truth #2: "Bob has always had trouble seeing the forest for the trees. That's why people love to talk to him; he almost never puts the pieces together in a way that hurts his sources."

Truth #3: Bob is not like other reporters, and it's not surprising he did not tell his editor Leonard Downie about his Plame role: "Woodward spends most of his life reporting. He knows everything. What's more, he has no idea what it adds up to. How could he possibly keep anyone, much less his editor, in the loop? It would take hours and hours of debriefing every week, hours that would undoubtedly be better spent reporting on the after-the-fact thoughts of people in power who are trying to justify the mistakes they've made."

Truth #4: "If you don't talk to Woodward, you'll be sorry. I mention this not because it's precisely true (look at me), but because it's an operating truth in official Washington. What's more, it's the only explanation I can come up with for why Woodward was foolish enough to trash Fitzgerald's investigation; I suspect that Fitzgerald is the only powerful figure in Washington who does not pour his heart out to Woodward on a weekly basis, and Woodward was telling him that he’d better get on the train."

A different perspective on Bob Woodward and worth reading.

Darwin and Evolution Controversy continues

From the Telegraph:

The Darwin exhibition frightening off corporate sponsors



The Darwin exhibition frightening off corporate sponsors
By Nicholas Wapshott in New York
(Filed: 20/11/2005)

An exhibition celebrating the life of Charles Darwin has failed to find a corporate sponsor because American companies are anxious not to take sides in the heated debate between scientists and fundamentalist Christians over the theory of evolution.

The entire $3 million (£1.7 million) cost of Darwin, which opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York yesterday, is instead being borne by wealthy individuals and private charitable donations.

[Caution: blogger rant and personal opinion] Yet another example of "Intelligent" designer's handiwork. (This would be sarcasm on my part). I will never understand why the theory of evolution has to be mutally exclusive from religion. If you believe in God, Allah, the Great Turtle, or whatever - who's to say they didn't decide to create the universe by the rules of evolution?

Ok, I'll stop ranting now.... read the full article if you like at the link above.

Vietnam's Shadow

A good opinion piece from the Christian Science Monitor:

More lessons from Vietnam

Worried about flagging support for the war? The president tells his aides in a secret memo, "Publicly we say one thing; actually, we do another."

That was not President Bush on Iraq, but President Nixon on Vietnam and Cambodia. It is only one line in some 50,000 pages of newly declassified Nixon-era documents from the National Archive. It is not surprising, but still a little unsettling, to learn how often a president will dissemble with the people.

The revelation of the abuse of detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad was bad news for the Bush administration, as was the 1968 massacre of more than 350 South Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai. My Lai was treated by the Nixon White House as a public relations problem more than a moral problem. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird warned Nixon that My Lai could prove "acutely embarrassing" to the United States and could affect the Paris peace talks with North Vietnam. Mr. Laird added that My Lai, "will provide grist for the mills of antiwar activists," which could be ruinous to the image of the US.

Nixon said that an image could be changed by astute public relations, and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger weighed in with the observation that the trial of Lt. William Calley, implicated in the My Lai massacre, would alleviate press concerns about a cover-up.

Some of the Nixon Oval Office discussions about the future of Vietnam read eerily like memos on Iraq. In May 1969, a Nixon White House document said the US wanted to establish in Vietnam, "procedures for political choice that give each significant group a real opportunity to participate in the political life of a nation."

Sound like a discussion about nation-building in Iraq?

To bring this up to date, former Secretary Laird has an article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs magazine. Its title: "Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam."

Arguing for "de-Americanizing" the Iraq war, Laird says that our military presence is what feeds the insurgency. Laird says that he was the one who invented the term "Vietnamization." Maybe the word for what we face in Iraq today should be "Iraqization."

The similarities keep cropping up. Who here remembers that our country set out to win the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese as well?

The General reports it Best

In fine humor, Jesus General reports on the Denver Bus Incident as well. He does it far better than I ever could.

Next Stop: Big Brother

A living example of our times:

Meet Deborah Davis. She's a 50 year-old mother of four who lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Her kids are all grown-up: her middle son is a soldier fighting in Iraq. She leads an ordinary, middle class life. You probably never would have heard of Deb Davis if it weren't for her belief in the U.S. Constitution.
Federal Public Transportation Pass

This is not America. When honest, law-abiding citizens can't commute to work on a city bus without a demand for their 'papers', something is very, very wrong.

One morning in late September 2005, Deb was riding the public bus to work. She was minding her own business, reading a book and planning for work, when a security guard got on this public bus and demanded that every passenger show their ID. Deb, having done nothing wrong, declined. The guard called in federal cops, and she was arrested and charged with federal criminal misdemeanors after refusing to show ID on demand.

On the 9th of December 2005, Deborah Davis will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in a case that will determine whether Deb and the rest of us live in a free society, or in a country where we must show "papers" whenever a cop demands them.

I understand the new times we live in - but this bothers me.

Al-Jazeera is not Shutting Up

Via Americablog:

Al-Jazeera calls for No 10 talks

Wadah Khanfar [head of Al-Jazeera] is calling for the facts to be made public and urgent talks.

According to press reports, the memo includes a transcript record of Mr Blair attempting in April 2004 to persuade Mr Bush not to bomb al-Jazeera's HQ in Qatar.

Qatar is an ally of the US and was the location of US military headquarters during the Iraq war.

The White House dismissed reports of the conversation as "outlandish", but US officials have openly accused al-Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for al-Qaeda.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Mr Khanfar said: "Al- Jazeera is in the foremost of free form and democracy in the Arab world and therefore this news that we have heard is very concerning.

"So we demand a proper explanation and we would like to know the facts about this letter."

He said the matter was very important and that it concerned not only al-Jazeera but journalists across the world.

Rob (Americablog contributor) has this observation:

If this is true, that Bush wanted to bomb a building in the very same country as his military headquarters in a time of war, he would have to be absolutely insane. Congress should seriously consider what this would mean if the Commander in Chief was that wreckless.

The little story that won't go away....

Use less gas, pay more tax. That's fair...

From the Christian Science Monitior via USA Today:

Buying a hybrid car to save gas and the environment may be its own reward. But for curmudgeons who need extra incentives, help is on the way.

Across America, states, cities, and corporations are leaping on the hybrid-incentives bandwagon. On top of state tax credits, some hybrid drivers now enjoy exemptions from emissions-testing and excise tax. Others even get unlimited use of HOV commuter lanes.

And the mother of all hybrid perks will soon be unveiled: Beginning in January, the federal government will offer a tax credit of as much as $3,150 per car, based on its emissions profile.

"The federal incentives, higher gas prices, and all these other small but attractive perks are tipping the balance," says Bradley Berman, editor and owner of hybridcars.com. "Hybrid culture is definitely shifting into the mainstream. It's moved from environmentalists and early adopters to energy security and people that just want to save on gas."

Sounds like a pretty good incentive, huh? Not so fast! That was 10 days ago. From AP via KSAT TV in San Antonio:

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has suggested that the federal government tax hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars.

The chamber said the federal Highway Trust Fund is running out of money to maintain the nation's highways, and that Congress needs to consider new sources of revenue.

Chamber leaders have also suggested billing drivers for miles driven. Their study recommends the federal gas tax of about 18 cents a gallon be indexed for inflation.

Proponents said drivers should have to pay their fair share to fill potholes and fix bridges, regardless of how much or what kind of fuel they use.

So lemme see if I get this: The gummint'll give ya all kinds of tax incentives to buy a more environmentally friendly vehicle that will help reduce energy dependence, then when you don't use as much gas, they'll tax you so you pay as much as a 3-ton SUV so you're paying your "fair share" for road repairs. Is that about it? Yeah, I'm sure the Priuses and Civic Hybrids beat the shit out of the infrastructure just like the Navigators and Expeditions, huh?

Our government is basically a bunch of non-communicatin' idiots!

The Champ Meets The Chump

David Zinn of The Nation writes about Bush's meeting with Muhammad Ali to hang a well-deserved (imagine that!) Medal of Freedom on him:

About the only thing Bush and Ali have in common is that they both moved mountains to stay out of Vietnam. The difference, of course, was while Ali sacrificed his title and risked years in federal prison, Bush joined the country club otherwise known as the Texas National Guard, showing up for duty every time he had a dentist appointment. But the Champ still had one last rope-a-dope up his sleeve. As a playful Bush moved in front of Ali, he apparently thought it would be cute to put up his fists in a boxing stance. Ali leaned back and made a circular motion around his temple, as if the President must be crazy to want to tangle with him even now.

Perhaps a far more fitting and true tribute to Ali was on display at an antiwar demonstration last month, where an older woman of African descent held up a sign that read simply, "No Iraqi ever left me to die on a roof." This was a direct reference to a quote attributed to Ali that "no Vietnamese ever called me 'nigger.' " Both statements in a few short words encompass both the anger and internationalism so needed today. These are statements not of pacifism but of the struggle to end war. This is the Ali that they can never bury -- not even under the pall of devastating illness and a mountain of cheap medals.

It's a moving article and you should go read.

I hope Ali and Bob Dylan can forgive me for this, but:

As we gather and feast and relax this day,
Give Thanks for men like Cassius Clay.

Have a fine Thanksgiving, Amigos.

Mean Jean Feels Like a Victim

Via Americablog and Spontaneous Arising:

Freshman Republican Weathers Backlash
Schmidt Says She Meant No Insult to Murtha

Rep. Jean Schmidt flung the word "coward" at a decorated war veteran from Pennsylvania last week, but the Ohio Republican's comments landed with a splat in her own Cincinnati district, where some supporters are backing away as she scrambles to explain what she meant.

Judging by her words yesterday -- the first after avoiding the public for three days -- Schmidt doesn't understand what the fuss is about, and sees herself more as victim than villain. "I am amazed at what a national story this has become," she said in a statement. "I have been attacked very personally, continuously since Friday evening."


"There's no way that I remotely tried to impugn his character," Rep. Jean Schmidt said of her remarks on the House floor directed to Rep. John P. Murtha during debate on Iraq war policy. (By Michael E. Keating -- Cincinnati Enquirer Via Associated Press)

It just sucks to be her.

Dick Cheney Random Facts

Go here and check out the random facts about our beloved VP at the sidebar.

hehhehehehehe

Bush gets horse-bombed, wants to bomb Aljazeera...

After reading BaltimoreLenore's post, and one about Bush in Mongolia, I put two and two together and got five:

Looks like Bush, aka "the horse fluffer", is getting closer to what he really wants from horses. WaPo:

Gone from Mr. Bush's face was the let's-get-on-with-it look he had at Gigkakuji, the famed temple he visited in Kyoto, Japan. He talked with the warriors and stepped around camels and yaks to make his way into a quite luxurious ger. Sitting by a wood-burning stove, he chatted with a family of herders. (The Mongolian government says the herders were the real thing, but they live 100 miles out of town, and were brought in to lend some authenticity to the small village erected for Mr. Bush's benefit.) The president sipped a bit of fermented mare's milk (my bold), nibbled on some cheese curd and listened to some throat singing.

Time on fermented mare's milk:

Bring appetite enough for thick, yak-milk yogurt, cheese and marmot meat hot from a dung-fired stove. Try fermented cow's or mare's milk. After a bowl or two, you'll be ready to invade Europe yourself.

Another bowl and he'll want to bomb Aljazeera:

US President George Bush planned to bomb Aljazeera, British newspaper the Daily Mirror has reported, citing a Downing Street memo marked top secret.

The five-page transcript of a conversation between Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair reveals that Blair talked Bush out of launching a military strike on the station, unnamed sources told the daily.

From the Daily Mirror:

THE Daily Mirror was yesterday told not to publish further details from a top secret memo, which revealed that President Bush wanted to bomb an Arab TV station.

This is amazing: Bush gets loaded on some local 'shine in Mongolia, nuts up on Aljazeera, and has to have Blair talk him down out of the tree!

Take it one more step, Georgie: bring back the secret to them dung-fired stoves in Mongolia. You're full of enough dung all by yourself to solve our energy dependence problem.

It's been a long day. I told ya it might get sappy!