I'm happy to report Mrs. F is out of surgery and doing fine. I should be able to bring her home on Friday. While they did do a complete hysterectomy, they found nothing malignant. Once she heals she'll be good as new. I'm a happy camper.
Thanks to all of my colleagues and commenters who offered prayers and good words. We're both deeply touched.
Have I told you how much I hate driving in Manhattan?
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Port deal is necessary for war on Iran
Mike Whitney recalls Napoleon's advice in regard to why Bush is pushing so hard for his UAE port deal:
I didn't want him to go to war with Iraq, and I really don't want him to go to war with Iran.
Anything that presents a barrier to another criminal war on behalf of Big Corpora is a good thing. The port deal must not stand.
"If you want to understand the policy of a country, look at the map."
United Arab Emirates is located at the center of an oil-dependent world. This tiny state forms the promontory that juts out into the famed Straits of Hormuz through which 40% of the world's oil passes every day. Across the narrow straights sits Iran, the next victim on the list of "axis of evil" nations. Any attack on Iran will require that military forces quickly deploy to Dubai to forestall the closing of the straits and the subsequent devastation that would occur to world oil supplies and financial markets.
This is the critical point that is being intentionally concealed by America's diversionary media. This is the reason that President Bush continues to force the Dubai port plan even though 70% of the American people and Congress resoundingly oppose it.
As far as we know, however, Ahmadinejad has been straightforward in his claims. The IAEA has consistently found that Iran has fully complied with the terms of the NPT and that there "is no evidence of a nuclear weapons program."
That hasn't stop[ped] Washington, though. The die was cast for war with Iran nearly a decade ago in policy papers drawn up by far-right political ideologues that now control all the levers of foreign policy in the Bush White House.
The hypocrisy of this Bush-backed plan is breathtaking. Bush just finished a trip to India and Pakistan where he effectively declared himself the final arbiter of who will get nuclear technology and fuel and who won't. His actions were a clear affront to the IAEA, the UN, the NPT, and the United States Congress, who is supposed to determine such matters as treaties.
Bush has apparently elected himself the god of all things nuclear.
The NPT is dead.
Will this final assault on international agreements clear the path for war with Iran?
The UAE port deal is just more indication that an attack on Iran is forthcoming. Its location is crucial to the success of any American invasion.
For the Pentagon warlords Dubai has become the strategic epicenter of the global resource war. As peace activist and author Uri Avnery said, "Regimes come and go, rulers rise and fall, ideologies flourish and wither, but geography stands forever. It's geography that decides the basic interest of every state."
All eyes should be focused on Dubai and the tenuous future of the Straits of Hormuz.
I didn't want him to go to war with Iraq, and I really don't want him to go to war with Iran.
Anything that presents a barrier to another criminal war on behalf of Big Corpora is a good thing. The port deal must not stand.
The Solution For South Dakota
The Rude Pundit has a sure-fire plan to get the misogynistic South Dakota Forced Birth law overturned so fast it'll make your head spin. Note: his post contains both bad language and a high sexual content. Win-win! You gotta go read it, but here's the upshot:
That guy's got a pair o' solid brass ones, don't he? I hope it's nice and warm wherever he is.
Over the next few weeks, months even, as periods are missed and crocodile tears are shed (for, indeed, there will be few real regrets), you can pretty much bet that abortion on demand will become the law of the land in South Dakota so fast that it'll seem that yesterday never happened.
That guy's got a pair o' solid brass ones, don't he? I hope it's nice and warm wherever he is.
Monday, March 6, 2006
Spring is almost here: for Mr & Mrs F
Exhausted, I sought
a country inn, but found
the dogwoods in bloom.
Basho
We're thinking of you two. Get the rest you need, have some chicken soup and get ready to enjoy springtime (plant some bulbs for next year)!
(I took a little liberty with Basho, who found wisteria in bloom.)
Family matters
My ass is gonna be scarce around here until the weekend. Unfortunately, during an exam two weeks ago, Mrs. F's doctor found a mass that he didn't like the looks of. Being an Ashkenazi Jew with a family history of cancer (my wife's mom and her grandparents on her mom's side had various flavors), surgery is the only option. She goes in tomorrow morning.
The docs have prepared us for the worst but are hopeful because a C-T scan did not show evidence of metastasis. They'll be doing a biopsy while she's on the table to see if chemotherapy is warranted or not.
While we're naturally concerned, I know she will be in the best place in the world, in the hands of the best doc in the world in the field.
This is a big change for me because it's usually Mrs. F waiting in the hospital for them to put me back together. If all goes well, I'll have her back home for the weekend. Posting will be few and far between because I'll be spending most of my time in Manhattan and frankly, the world can go to Hell for all I care until I know the love of my life is out of danger. I'll let you all know how things went tomorrow night or Wednesday morning.
Gord's got the keys. Behave yourselves until I get back.
See ya's.
The docs have prepared us for the worst but are hopeful because a C-T scan did not show evidence of metastasis. They'll be doing a biopsy while she's on the table to see if chemotherapy is warranted or not.
While we're naturally concerned, I know she will be in the best place in the world, in the hands of the best doc in the world in the field.
This is a big change for me because it's usually Mrs. F waiting in the hospital for them to put me back together. If all goes well, I'll have her back home for the weekend. Posting will be few and far between because I'll be spending most of my time in Manhattan and frankly, the world can go to Hell for all I care until I know the love of my life is out of danger. I'll let you all know how things went tomorrow night or Wednesday morning.
Gord's got the keys. Behave yourselves until I get back.
See ya's.
This day in history
From Geov Parrish
Then again, maybe they were just trying to get part of their country back. I wish they'd try again.
Gee, sumthin' happens nearly every day! Go read.
3/6/1836: Mexican troops defend their country's abolitionist constitution, defeat foreign slaveholders. San Antonio, Texas. Remember the Alamo.
Then again, maybe they were just trying to get part of their country back. I wish they'd try again.
1857: Dred Scott decision by U.S. Supreme Court opens federal territory to slavery and denies citizenship to blacks, ruling that blacks are not entitled to protection under the law. The "unhappy Black Race," wrote Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney in his opinion, had never possessed "rights which the white man was bound to respect."
Gee, sumthin' happens nearly every day! Go read.
The case for impeachment is growing
AlterNet
That may be the legal argument, but this for damn sure is about Bush. And all his merry, evil men.
By all means go read the article. Many links and an interview with the book's author.
Right now, the move for impeachment resembles a sputtering moped. Let's turn it into a fire-breathing Top Fueler.
Until recently, talk of ousting President George W. Bush has proved little more than a distant rumbling. For too long, impeachment has been deemed implausible. It's not going to happen with a Republican Congress, so the argument goes. Not with the president finishing his second term, not while we're at war.
But the distant rumbling is growing louder by the day, creating a resonant echo that is rapidly taking root in public discourse. "Impeach Him," reads the cover of this month's Harper's magazine. And in a public forum in New York City last week, journalists, lawyers, and political figures came together to discuss the case against our president.
n fact, the case for the impeachment of President Bush is arguably the strongest in American history. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) makes this amply clear in its recent book, a concise indictment of President Bush that lays out four clear legal arguments that point to impeachment as a necessary remedy for the gross violation of our Constitution. The Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush covers illegal wiretapping, torture, rendition, detention and the Iraq war. An appendix compares the impeachment proceedings of Andrew Johnson, Nixon and Clinton to the comparatively more powerful case against Bush.
The Articles of Impeachment make clear that this is no longer just about President Bush. Rather, it is about preventing the executive branch from obtaining carte blanche to disregard the two other branches of government. This is a paradigm shift that has already gained substantial footing through this administration's steady erosion of legal precedent.
It is the ultimate case of missing the forest for the trees. Behind this massive body of evidence, behind each new report of this president's transgressions of the law, is the threat of the one and only story that Americans will read for the rest of this presidency, and presidencies to come: The abuse of power, and the destruction of our Constitution.
That may be the legal argument, but this for damn sure is about Bush. And all his merry, evil men.
By all means go read the article. Many links and an interview with the book's author.
Right now, the move for impeachment resembles a sputtering moped. Let's turn it into a fire-breathing Top Fueler.
Priests Purify Shrine After Bush Visit
ABC News International
A Tijuana whorehouse would need spiritual cleansing after a visit from Bush.
The rest of the story:
These people have a strange order to their priorities. Yes, I know the dogs were a mortal insult to Hindu sensibilities, but I hope they saved some pixie dust to rid the joint of Bush's karma as well.
And these are the folks we're giving nuclear assistance to? If I remember right, they have a six-armed deity named Kali who claims to be the "destroyer of worlds".
NEW DELHI Mar 5, 2006 (AP)- Hindu priests who look after the memorial of Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi conducted a purification ceremony at the shrine after a visit from President Bush. [...]
A Tijuana whorehouse would need spiritual cleansing after a visit from Bush.
The rest of the story:
[...] But it wasn't the president who offended them, it was the sniffer-dogs who scoured the area ahead of his visit.
These people have a strange order to their priorities. Yes, I know the dogs were a mortal insult to Hindu sensibilities, but I hope they saved some pixie dust to rid the joint of Bush's karma as well.
And these are the folks we're giving nuclear assistance to? If I remember right, they have a six-armed deity named Kali who claims to be the "destroyer of worlds".
Weekly reminder
Ironic Times
Be sure to read all three pages.
Survey: Only One in 1,000 Americans Can Name All Five Rights Guaranteed in 1st Amendment
Those who do are detained, questioned.
Analysis: American Economy Enters New Era
We borrow trillions from other countries to pay their workers low wages to make things our laid-off workers can afford.
Be sure to read all three pages.
On Moussaoui
After a month of jury selection, the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only man charged with a crime in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, is set to begin today in a Virginia courtroom, and Hamilton Peterson, who lost his parents on hijacked United Flight 93, plans to be there.
"Justice must be done," Peterson, of Maryland, says. "There must be accountability."
...
I guess we can hoist a body high and claim victory, or revenge, or justice was achieved but this guy was just the dumbest member of the team. Had he been a little smarter, we wouldn't have caught him either, his DNA smeared on the pavement instead of the Chimp's only PR victory in the 'War on Terra'. All I ask is this, more than 4 years after 9/11; where's Osama?
Blame
I touched on this last night when I quoted Atrios commenting on an Andy Sullivan [I still don't get him, I never understood gay Repukes - Fixer] post. This morning my man Dave over at STF looks at another courageous Repuke, Instashithead [link to Kevin Drum; we don't link to idiots here].
And a comment struck me:
We sure as hell wouldn't have as big a recruiting problem. If blame is passed out, the ones who should take most of it, aside from the Chimp and his minions, are the Chickenhawks. Those who spoke loudest in favor of it, despite their broad-based unwillingness to serve.
All you so-called 'men' who get your kicks watching the military do their stuff, cheerleading from the safety of the sidelines. You're all pathetic, lame excuses for men and the only power you have comes from subjugating your women and arming yourselves to the teeth. If you believed so strongly in this war, you should have dropped everything and signed up. But that isn't your style, is it? You all talk a good line but, like your so-called leader, all you do is talk.
You've had your say and it's helped run this nation down the road to ruin. Now that we're there, I'm gonna make sure no one forgets your parts in it. Men? Not a chance. You're all a bunch of whiny little boys.
And I blame you!
The press had better hope we win this war, because if we don't, a lot of people will blame the media.
And a comment struck me:
But damn it, if the chickenhawks had just gone and fought...we'd have won easily, right?...
We sure as hell wouldn't have as big a recruiting problem. If blame is passed out, the ones who should take most of it, aside from the Chimp and his minions, are the Chickenhawks. Those who spoke loudest in favor of it, despite their broad-based unwillingness to serve.
All you so-called 'men' who get your kicks watching the military do their stuff, cheerleading from the safety of the sidelines. You're all pathetic, lame excuses for men and the only power you have comes from subjugating your women and arming yourselves to the teeth. If you believed so strongly in this war, you should have dropped everything and signed up. But that isn't your style, is it? You all talk a good line but, like your so-called leader, all you do is talk.
You've had your say and it's helped run this nation down the road to ruin. Now that we're there, I'm gonna make sure no one forgets your parts in it. Men? Not a chance. You're all a bunch of whiny little boys.
And I blame you!
Sunday, March 5, 2006
Let's get this straight #2
To all those 'courageous' right wing bloggers and sycophants who are 'supporting the troops/the president/the war', listen to Atrios:
...
Of course by participating in the public discourse one plays a part in something, but typing away from one's basement does not involve "facing down" anything. Not a single person who opposed this war was "cowardly" as it takes no actual courage to send other people off to kill and die. One does not get to bask in the reflected bravery of those who are actually doing what you send them to do. There was nothing courageous about supporting a war which was supported by the US government and almost the entire punditocracy, and aside from helping to stifle debate and demonize people who quite sensibly opposed the war their contribution to their noble cause was precisely zero.
Eating their own
Last week I wrote about Rep. Peter King's stand against the Dubai ports deal. Seems the Chimp is paying him back:
King is in a position to stick it right back to the White House. Let's see if he does it. I love election year politics.
WASHINGTON, March 3 - Representative Peter T. King's prominent opposition to a proposal to allow a Dubai company to take over some terminal operations at American ports may have earned him some punishment from the Bush administration: He has been grounded.
Mr. King, the New York Republican who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, confirmed Friday that a few days after he first threatened legislation to hold up the port deal, the Pentagon informed him that it could not provide an aircraft for his planned March Congressional delegation to Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.
...
King is in a position to stick it right back to the White House. Let's see if he does it. I love election year politics.
Thanks to donkey o.d. for the link.
Please don't
At Iddybud:
I like John Edwards, I really do, and so does Mrs. F, but in '08 we need a person with national and international experience. We don't need someone who'll learn it on-the-job. The Chimp has screwed things to Holy Hell and we need someone who knows what they're doing in order to fix it.
I'd like to see him as a VP candidate on a Wesley Clark ticket. Wes Clark has the international connections (Supreme Commander of NATO) and the sechel to put good people in leadership positions where he is weak. We have to rebuild the foundations of this nation before we begin to move forward again.
And just to be clear, I'm not saying Wes Clark will be my choice, but Clark/Edwards does sound appealing.
On today's Meet the Press, former Senator and 2004 VP candidate John Edwards of North Carolina stated that he was considering a run for US President in 2008.
I like John Edwards, I really do, and so does Mrs. F, but in '08 we need a person with national and international experience. We don't need someone who'll learn it on-the-job. The Chimp has screwed things to Holy Hell and we need someone who knows what they're doing in order to fix it.
I'd like to see him as a VP candidate on a Wesley Clark ticket. Wes Clark has the international connections (Supreme Commander of NATO) and the sechel to put good people in leadership positions where he is weak. We have to rebuild the foundations of this nation before we begin to move forward again.
And just to be clear, I'm not saying Wes Clark will be my choice, but Clark/Edwards does sound appealing.
Oscar blogging
I'm with Roger:
I, however, won't be liveblogging. I will be dead sleeping. All I know about the movies this year is just the premise of Brokeback Mountain has given four immature mechanics too much material.
And one more thing. I'm all for any movie that makes the Jesus-freaks crazy.
...
What will make this event even more revolutionary is that I haven't seen a single 2005 movie, either in theaters or on DVD. That's at least two less than TBogg. I am less qualified to have an opinion on 2005 films than anyone on any subject, with the exception of Michelle Malkin on any subject.
...
I, however, won't be liveblogging. I will be dead sleeping. All I know about the movies this year is just the premise of Brokeback Mountain has given four immature mechanics too much material.
And one more thing. I'm all for any movie that makes the Jesus-freaks crazy.
Leaving...
LONDON (Reuters) - The United States and Britain are planning to pull all their troops out of Iraq by the spring of 2007, two British newspapers reported in their Sunday editions, quoting unnamed senior defense ministry sources.
The Sunday Telegraph said the planned pull-out followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now a large obstacle to securing peace.
...
Stay the course, huh? After wasting hundreds of billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives, American and Iraqi, and destroying our standing in the world, we're just gonna throw up our hands and say 'oopsie'? I'm sorry, but Bush and Blair are gonna have to pay for this. For crying out loud, Bush 1 knew this would happen 15 years ago (the reason the cry 'on to Baghdad' wasn't heard after we kicked Saddam out of Kuwait) and most of the reality-based folks knew it too. Somebody's gonna have to be held accountable and be 'brought to justice'.
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