The document I saved earlier this morning vanished into the great ether like the last SOS from a sinking ship in the Antarctic waters. I’ve been fighting a rapidly deteriorating computer for a month, hoping that I could reverse the boot problems and find some way to convince the mother board not to suicide.
The ability to write and have it saved is important to me. How else am I to be able to deliver diatribes, write radical rants, and annoy others who might, once, expect to find some logic, reality, reason, compassion or empathy in the things I post. Without these marvelous little laptop computers we’re relegated to the prior methods of type writers, carbon paper, multiple copies, erasures, white-out and pools of secretaries pounding away at keyboards to publish our thoughts. So finding that the document I so carefully saved this morning is not on my hard drive is disturbing.
There was no great message in what I had saved this morning. So other than to my ego, no harm took place.
Gettysburg PA 1863 The nation and the Confederate states threw thousands of American soldiers into a brutal and crucial battle on the first three days of July.
Colllins showed the Ken Burns Civil War segment on Gettysburg this morning.
When we visited the battlefield at Gettysburg it was one of the most troubling places I have ever been in this hemisphere. I grew up playing in the residual trenches dug by Union troops around Jefferson City MO. I’ve walked battlefields at Wilson’s Creek, at Pilot Knob, and other places where men marched shoulder to shoulder into cannon and massed rifles. Only Gettysburg tore at my soul. It’s one of those places where anyone who has ever been in the army can look at the terrain and know how badly the dice have fallen.
To see the photographs and drawings from those three days, to hear the commentary and the old letters and journal entries, is to increase the understanding one can gain from reviewing the words of the people who were there because they had to be. To watch the video, see the images, and have the sound-track of artillery and rifle fire over laying the images was very hard to sit through this morning. As I said, Gettysburg tore at my soul. That’s one of those wounds that will take a long time to close. I don’t really know why, just that it will.
Dinner tonight – Fried rice with shrimp and leftover roasts pork. Quite delicious.
I’ve saved this four different times. I hope it takes this time.
Watch this site for coming distractions.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
6 October 2010 outsource all the jobs then blame the EPA
From the office of Congressman Phil Roe, TN (R:
“Since the Senate will not pass the flawed cap and trade legislation, the Administration is taking matters into their own hands, using the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as their lead enforcement agency. New regulations planned by the EPA could have detrimental effects to our economy – particularly causing a loss of jobs, impeding economic recovery and harming livelihoods. “
“In addition, a new regulation on hydraulic fracturing – considered a safe, well-regulated natural gas drilling technology under the Clean Water Act – would greatly harm domestic energy production and kill thousands of energy jobs. New relegations on solid fuel-fired boilers have also been set, and could result in tens of billions in capital costs for upgrades, in turn costing thousands of jobs because of these losses.
“A common theme heard in testimony by representatives across the spectrum - from the cattle industry, to the coal industry, to farming - all said that the “Obama Administration’s environmental policies...appear to be aimed at destroying [their] industry in America.” Attempts to expand EPA’s control over everything from mud puddles to dust will have dire economic consequences on small businesses and family farms.
“As folks around the country are experiencing great economic strain, these new regulations will only continue to add strain on businesses struggling to stay afloat. These new regulations are harmful to the First District of Tennessee because they could shut down business and put thousands of Americans out of work. “
Cassi Creek:
Once again Mr. Roe follows the GOP standard of practice by blaming the loss of jobs on the EPA. Mr. Roe complains about restrictions directed toward the use of hydraulic fracturing in natural gas exploration and development. Mr. Roe, obviously, does not depend upon a well for his drinking and bathing water. Mr. Roe does not seem to care that “Fracking” has a history of damaging home owners’ wells. Mr. Roe is only following the party line for the oil industry.
Mr. Roe voted against restrictions that would prevent mountain top removal by strip miners. Mr. Roe lives in an urban setting and doesn’t see the results of such practices; timber loss, silt-choked streams, valleys filled with mining spoil and tailings, and the loss of wildlife and human habitat. Mr. Roe is only following the party line for the coal industry.
Mr. Roe blames the Administration for using the EPA to enforce environmental regulations. He fails to mention that the GOP’s refuses to vote for any environmental regulations – solely because they wish to sabotage the Obama presidency. The EPA is functioning as it was intended, working for the safety of the American public rather than for increasing the profits of GOP contributors.
To blame the EPA for the increase in unemployment, for the loss of manufacturing, agricultural, mining, oil & gas industry jobs is simply another in a long list of GOP lies. Our factories are silent and empty because the owners chose to pollute in Mexico or China rather than follow EPA regulations here. Much cheaper for them to outsource factories than to clean up production. Our oil and gas wells are closed off waiting for even higher prices while we ship what we do produce to other nations and then import what we need but won’t produce here.
To blame the EPA for the corporate greed that shut down our mills, factories, and production facilities is – here it comes again – another GOP lie put out there to hook the poorly educated and unemployed. Corporate greed, not environmental regulations, are causing jobs to be outsourced and offshored.
When someone actually gets to ask Mr. Roe a serious question, one not on the approved and pre-screened list of GOP talking points, Mr. Roe reverts to form. He dodges. He reminds everyone that he was once a practicing OB/Gyn who “delivered over 5000 babies.”
Honestly, Phil, who cares. You got paid for doing that. My mother, an RN has probably delivered 500 because the attending physician wasn’t there when the delivery actually happened. His name went on the birth certificate, her hands did the work. For that matter, I’ve delivered seven. Anyone who’s logged any time in health care knows how little that boast is worth.
Like all the anti-abortion folks you use that bit of employment history to prove your religious credentials. Of course, once those kids are born, they’re on their own. You, the GOP, the Tea Party, and the Christian fundamentalists will do everything possible to block any congressional funding for education, nutritional help, decent housing, family planning, and federal jobs creation. Your interest in those 5000 really ends when they take their first breath.
Like the rest of the GOP and Tea Party, who wave the “conservative” banner, you have no real interest in conserving natural resources, national forests, jobs for our citizens, our educational standards, or anything else that might anger the energy corporations and their lobbyists. You, and they, are only interested in conserving you jobs so that you can continue to conserve your relationships with the string of lobbyists who bring you instructions from the energy bosses, telling you how to vote.
Maybe the next time you send your official prevarication e-mail to local voters, Phil, I’ll talk to the employees and patients at James Quillen VA hospital and post their comments about you and your concern for veterans for others to read.
Tennessee produces some natural gas, having aroud 285 productive wells in 2008.
Primary summary site for natural gas statistics.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/NG_SUM_LSUM_DCU_STN_A.htm
In 2005 TN ranked 7th from the bottom in natural gas production by state. See chart below:
number of producing NG wells /state
http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/ng_prod_wells_s1_a.htm
“Since the Senate will not pass the flawed cap and trade legislation, the Administration is taking matters into their own hands, using the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as their lead enforcement agency. New regulations planned by the EPA could have detrimental effects to our economy – particularly causing a loss of jobs, impeding economic recovery and harming livelihoods. “
“In addition, a new regulation on hydraulic fracturing – considered a safe, well-regulated natural gas drilling technology under the Clean Water Act – would greatly harm domestic energy production and kill thousands of energy jobs. New relegations on solid fuel-fired boilers have also been set, and could result in tens of billions in capital costs for upgrades, in turn costing thousands of jobs because of these losses.
“A common theme heard in testimony by representatives across the spectrum - from the cattle industry, to the coal industry, to farming - all said that the “Obama Administration’s environmental policies...appear to be aimed at destroying [their] industry in America.” Attempts to expand EPA’s control over everything from mud puddles to dust will have dire economic consequences on small businesses and family farms.
“As folks around the country are experiencing great economic strain, these new regulations will only continue to add strain on businesses struggling to stay afloat. These new regulations are harmful to the First District of Tennessee because they could shut down business and put thousands of Americans out of work. “
Cassi Creek:
Once again Mr. Roe follows the GOP standard of practice by blaming the loss of jobs on the EPA. Mr. Roe complains about restrictions directed toward the use of hydraulic fracturing in natural gas exploration and development. Mr. Roe, obviously, does not depend upon a well for his drinking and bathing water. Mr. Roe does not seem to care that “Fracking” has a history of damaging home owners’ wells. Mr. Roe is only following the party line for the oil industry.
Mr. Roe voted against restrictions that would prevent mountain top removal by strip miners. Mr. Roe lives in an urban setting and doesn’t see the results of such practices; timber loss, silt-choked streams, valleys filled with mining spoil and tailings, and the loss of wildlife and human habitat. Mr. Roe is only following the party line for the coal industry.
Mr. Roe blames the Administration for using the EPA to enforce environmental regulations. He fails to mention that the GOP’s refuses to vote for any environmental regulations – solely because they wish to sabotage the Obama presidency. The EPA is functioning as it was intended, working for the safety of the American public rather than for increasing the profits of GOP contributors.
To blame the EPA for the increase in unemployment, for the loss of manufacturing, agricultural, mining, oil & gas industry jobs is simply another in a long list of GOP lies. Our factories are silent and empty because the owners chose to pollute in Mexico or China rather than follow EPA regulations here. Much cheaper for them to outsource factories than to clean up production. Our oil and gas wells are closed off waiting for even higher prices while we ship what we do produce to other nations and then import what we need but won’t produce here.
To blame the EPA for the corporate greed that shut down our mills, factories, and production facilities is – here it comes again – another GOP lie put out there to hook the poorly educated and unemployed. Corporate greed, not environmental regulations, are causing jobs to be outsourced and offshored.
When someone actually gets to ask Mr. Roe a serious question, one not on the approved and pre-screened list of GOP talking points, Mr. Roe reverts to form. He dodges. He reminds everyone that he was once a practicing OB/Gyn who “delivered over 5000 babies.”
Honestly, Phil, who cares. You got paid for doing that. My mother, an RN has probably delivered 500 because the attending physician wasn’t there when the delivery actually happened. His name went on the birth certificate, her hands did the work. For that matter, I’ve delivered seven. Anyone who’s logged any time in health care knows how little that boast is worth.
Like all the anti-abortion folks you use that bit of employment history to prove your religious credentials. Of course, once those kids are born, they’re on their own. You, the GOP, the Tea Party, and the Christian fundamentalists will do everything possible to block any congressional funding for education, nutritional help, decent housing, family planning, and federal jobs creation. Your interest in those 5000 really ends when they take their first breath.
Like the rest of the GOP and Tea Party, who wave the “conservative” banner, you have no real interest in conserving natural resources, national forests, jobs for our citizens, our educational standards, or anything else that might anger the energy corporations and their lobbyists. You, and they, are only interested in conserving you jobs so that you can continue to conserve your relationships with the string of lobbyists who bring you instructions from the energy bosses, telling you how to vote.
Maybe the next time you send your official prevarication e-mail to local voters, Phil, I’ll talk to the employees and patients at James Quillen VA hospital and post their comments about you and your concern for veterans for others to read.
Tennessee produces some natural gas, having aroud 285 productive wells in 2008.
Primary summary site for natural gas statistics.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/NG_SUM_LSUM_DCU_STN_A.htm
In 2005 TN ranked 7th from the bottom in natural gas production by state. See chart below:
number of producing NG wells /state
http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/ng_prod_wells_s1_a.htm
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
5 October 2010 Nixon’s gone but his legacy remains
Writing about the killings at Kent State
On the right, hateful words are fired like bullets
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
“My God, American soldiers had shot American college students. This was not China, not Tiananmen Square, and not Iran and the pro-democracy rallies of last year -- not any of those places. This was America, just yesterday (take my word for it) and yet it had happened. How? I thought hard and then I remembered. Bullets had killed those kids, sure -- but they were fired, in a way, from the mouths of politicians
The governor of Ohio, James Rhodes, demonized the war protesters. They were "worse than the Brownshirts and the communist element. . . . We will use whatever force necessary to drive them out of Kent."
That was the language of that time. And now it is the language of our time. It is the language of Glenn Beck, who fetishizes about liberals and calls Barack Obama a racist. It is the language of rage that fuels too much of the Tea Party and is the sum total of gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino's campaign message in New York. It is all this talk about "taking back America" (from whom?) and this inchoate fury at immigrants and, of course, this raw anger at Muslims, stoked by politicians such as Newt Gingrich and Rick Lazio, the latter having lost the GOP primary to Paladino for, among other things, not being sufficiently angry. "I'm going to take them out," Paladino vowed at a Tea Party rally in Ithaca, N.Y.
Back in the Vietnam War era, the left also used ugly language and resorted to violence. But the right, as is its wont, stripped the antiwar movement of its citizenship. It turned dissent into treason, which, in a way, was the worst treason of all. It made dissidents into the storied "other" who had nothing in common with the rest of us. They were not opponents; they were the enemy: Fire! “
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/04/AR2010100403856.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
Cassi Creek:
Mr. Cohen makes an accurate point. The co-option of words, phrases, and symbols has no become a primary weapon in the battle between political parties.
During the Nixon years the act of burning the American flag as an exercise in freedom of speech caused a loud and fulminate response from within the blue-collar workers, construction tradesmen, and those citizens for whom the introduction of the birth control pill signaled the end of morality as proclaimed by the tent revivalists.
The word “liberal” was attacked and branded as equating with communism during the Reagan era. A whole series of symbols and words became weapons. “Welfare,” “family planning,” “ecology,” and “conservation” suddenly became words to be used against the very people who were most truly interested in conserving America in a battle against corporate raiders, televangelists, oil companies, and the emerging and strengthening theocrats.
Bush II and Cheney took over when Reagan finally foundered in the senility that was already evident when he was first elected. Clad in the American flag, waving a bible he didn’t believe in, he read speeches that were made of nothing but trigger phrases to motivate the mob.
The Tea Party mobs now cloak their selves in symbols drawn from American history but fail to recognize the inherently radical nature of the men who wrought those symbols.
The need for civility in politics is deep and immediate. We need an end to hate mongers like Limbaugh, Palin, and Beck stirring the cauldron of hatred and racism that drives the Tea Party mob. They are experts at mob manipulation and we need to find a way to stop their use of all the old symbols and their demonization of political terms.
Not all the labels from our history should be forgotten. I’m quite willing to begin making every reference to the GOP and Tea Party share the “No Nothing” label. I suggest others do likewise. It’s not mean or abusive, just honest and direct.
A very colicky computer and leftovers for dinner. 92% (A-) on my art-history exam.
On the right, hateful words are fired like bullets
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
“My God, American soldiers had shot American college students. This was not China, not Tiananmen Square, and not Iran and the pro-democracy rallies of last year -- not any of those places. This was America, just yesterday (take my word for it) and yet it had happened. How? I thought hard and then I remembered. Bullets had killed those kids, sure -- but they were fired, in a way, from the mouths of politicians
The governor of Ohio, James Rhodes, demonized the war protesters. They were "worse than the Brownshirts and the communist element. . . . We will use whatever force necessary to drive them out of Kent."
That was the language of that time. And now it is the language of our time. It is the language of Glenn Beck, who fetishizes about liberals and calls Barack Obama a racist. It is the language of rage that fuels too much of the Tea Party and is the sum total of gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino's campaign message in New York. It is all this talk about "taking back America" (from whom?) and this inchoate fury at immigrants and, of course, this raw anger at Muslims, stoked by politicians such as Newt Gingrich and Rick Lazio, the latter having lost the GOP primary to Paladino for, among other things, not being sufficiently angry. "I'm going to take them out," Paladino vowed at a Tea Party rally in Ithaca, N.Y.
Back in the Vietnam War era, the left also used ugly language and resorted to violence. But the right, as is its wont, stripped the antiwar movement of its citizenship. It turned dissent into treason, which, in a way, was the worst treason of all. It made dissidents into the storied "other" who had nothing in common with the rest of us. They were not opponents; they were the enemy: Fire! “
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/04/AR2010100403856.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
Cassi Creek:
Mr. Cohen makes an accurate point. The co-option of words, phrases, and symbols has no become a primary weapon in the battle between political parties.
During the Nixon years the act of burning the American flag as an exercise in freedom of speech caused a loud and fulminate response from within the blue-collar workers, construction tradesmen, and those citizens for whom the introduction of the birth control pill signaled the end of morality as proclaimed by the tent revivalists.
The word “liberal” was attacked and branded as equating with communism during the Reagan era. A whole series of symbols and words became weapons. “Welfare,” “family planning,” “ecology,” and “conservation” suddenly became words to be used against the very people who were most truly interested in conserving America in a battle against corporate raiders, televangelists, oil companies, and the emerging and strengthening theocrats.
Bush II and Cheney took over when Reagan finally foundered in the senility that was already evident when he was first elected. Clad in the American flag, waving a bible he didn’t believe in, he read speeches that were made of nothing but trigger phrases to motivate the mob.
The Tea Party mobs now cloak their selves in symbols drawn from American history but fail to recognize the inherently radical nature of the men who wrought those symbols.
The need for civility in politics is deep and immediate. We need an end to hate mongers like Limbaugh, Palin, and Beck stirring the cauldron of hatred and racism that drives the Tea Party mob. They are experts at mob manipulation and we need to find a way to stop their use of all the old symbols and their demonization of political terms.
Not all the labels from our history should be forgotten. I’m quite willing to begin making every reference to the GOP and Tea Party share the “No Nothing” label. I suggest others do likewise. It’s not mean or abusive, just honest and direct.
A very colicky computer and leftovers for dinner. 92% (A-) on my art-history exam.
Monday, October 4, 2010
4 October 2010 That which is hateful to you, do not do to others.
You may now resume standing on both feet.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/04/west.bank.mosque.arson/index.html?hpt=T2
Vandals torch West Bank mosque
From Kevin Flower, CNN
October 4, 2010 -- Updated 1719 GMT (0119 HKT)
“Palestinian witnesses said four people tried to set fire to the mosque, burning carpets and 12 Qurans around 3:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. ET Sunday).
The arsonists sprayed "revenge" and "price tag" on the walls, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said”
Cassi Creek:
When people from two cultures meet, the first things shared are the best and the worst of human existence. Copulation and combat, love and hate, universal constants that are seemingly shared by all humanity in some form.
As populations become more familiar with each other they begin to share other things. They share cuisine, forms of government, languages, monetary systems, methods of manufacturing clothing, and tools. They share technology, exchanging knapped flint for cowrie shells, bronze or iron weaponry for livestock, and building techniques – cathedrals for silver and gold.
Not all exchanges are desirable, not all information comes in a timely manner. One nation will learn about new military tactics and weaponry by being defeated by a more up-to-date nation. Knights in plate armor will learn about laws of ballistics and energy transfer when they encounter crossbows and gunpowder. Desert cultures learn from unhappy experience how rapidly shellfish spoil in hot weather.
And invariably one culture will learn the worst things it can from another. It may learn and adopt a culture based upon being imprisoned. It may adopt the practice of playing music at painful and obnoxious volumes as a means of displaying that it recognizes no need to follow conventions of good manners and courtesy considered suitable behavior by the majority.
Worst of all, cultures learn and adopt hatred.
Vandalism of places of worship is some of the most hateful acts that one culture can commit against another. The vandalism that took place in the West Bank is not justifiable by any tenet of Judaism. It is not justifiable by anything found in the Quran or in the Christian Bible. Yet in an area supposedly revered by all three faiths, the ugly nature of religious fundamentalism appears again.
The most problematic settlements are those built by fundamentalist Jews from the U.S. who are intent upon recreating “biblical Israel.” These fundamentalists expect the Israeli government to support and protect them but in many instances fail to recognize the nation of Israel. To gain some insight into the idiocy that is involved, please read the article linked below.
The right wing theocrats described below are made of the same hateful nature as the Westboro Baptist Church, the Taliban of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the unlettered, un -schooled opponents of Park 51, Christian Identity militia/churches, and the KKK. Only the label on the book differs.
Israel must deal with these hate mongers and it will be bloody and horrifying. Like any of the groups mentioned above, the theocratic settlers will stage a series of last stands and will force the IDF to harm fellow countrymen in the process. There will be no victory for Israel, only hatred between Jews and the reversal of a process that was begun to provide border security but that failed when the religious fundamentalists subverted the process for their own purposes.
There will be a lot of housing units left behind. I only hope that the West Bank Arabs will demonstrate more intelligence than did the Arabs of Gaza. It is already apparent that this group of settlers has and will not.
“Over the last year and a half, radical settlers seem to have upped the ante. They have defaced Muslim tombstones, set fire to Palestinian olive groves, assaulted Palestinians, slashed tires of IDF vehicles and thrown acid at Israeli soldiers.
It’s all part of a strategy the radicals call “price tag,” which aims to greet every move by the government against illegal settlements with mayhem and violence. Radical youth, encouraged by a small number of veteran settler leaders, are at the forefront of this effort.”
There have been other acts of arson committed by Jewish settlers. There will be more. With every such act of blind hatred and vandalism these settlers move farther and farther from the reasons Israel exists today.
There is a practice of handing down the Torah, customs, traditions, and many good things from generation to generation, L’dor v’Dor in Hebrew. Unfortunately, for some, intolerance is now included in the things handed down.
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/06/24/1005829/behind-the-headlines-radical-jewish-settlers
Some Jewish settlers turning against Israel
By Dina Kraft • June 24, 2009
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/10/04/west.bank.mosque.arson/index.html?hpt=T2
Vandals torch West Bank mosque
From Kevin Flower, CNN
October 4, 2010 -- Updated 1719 GMT (0119 HKT)
“Palestinian witnesses said four people tried to set fire to the mosque, burning carpets and 12 Qurans around 3:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. ET Sunday).
The arsonists sprayed "revenge" and "price tag" on the walls, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said”
Cassi Creek:
When people from two cultures meet, the first things shared are the best and the worst of human existence. Copulation and combat, love and hate, universal constants that are seemingly shared by all humanity in some form.
As populations become more familiar with each other they begin to share other things. They share cuisine, forms of government, languages, monetary systems, methods of manufacturing clothing, and tools. They share technology, exchanging knapped flint for cowrie shells, bronze or iron weaponry for livestock, and building techniques – cathedrals for silver and gold.
Not all exchanges are desirable, not all information comes in a timely manner. One nation will learn about new military tactics and weaponry by being defeated by a more up-to-date nation. Knights in plate armor will learn about laws of ballistics and energy transfer when they encounter crossbows and gunpowder. Desert cultures learn from unhappy experience how rapidly shellfish spoil in hot weather.
And invariably one culture will learn the worst things it can from another. It may learn and adopt a culture based upon being imprisoned. It may adopt the practice of playing music at painful and obnoxious volumes as a means of displaying that it recognizes no need to follow conventions of good manners and courtesy considered suitable behavior by the majority.
Worst of all, cultures learn and adopt hatred.
Vandalism of places of worship is some of the most hateful acts that one culture can commit against another. The vandalism that took place in the West Bank is not justifiable by any tenet of Judaism. It is not justifiable by anything found in the Quran or in the Christian Bible. Yet in an area supposedly revered by all three faiths, the ugly nature of religious fundamentalism appears again.
The most problematic settlements are those built by fundamentalist Jews from the U.S. who are intent upon recreating “biblical Israel.” These fundamentalists expect the Israeli government to support and protect them but in many instances fail to recognize the nation of Israel. To gain some insight into the idiocy that is involved, please read the article linked below.
The right wing theocrats described below are made of the same hateful nature as the Westboro Baptist Church, the Taliban of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the unlettered, un -schooled opponents of Park 51, Christian Identity militia/churches, and the KKK. Only the label on the book differs.
Israel must deal with these hate mongers and it will be bloody and horrifying. Like any of the groups mentioned above, the theocratic settlers will stage a series of last stands and will force the IDF to harm fellow countrymen in the process. There will be no victory for Israel, only hatred between Jews and the reversal of a process that was begun to provide border security but that failed when the religious fundamentalists subverted the process for their own purposes.
There will be a lot of housing units left behind. I only hope that the West Bank Arabs will demonstrate more intelligence than did the Arabs of Gaza. It is already apparent that this group of settlers has and will not.
“Over the last year and a half, radical settlers seem to have upped the ante. They have defaced Muslim tombstones, set fire to Palestinian olive groves, assaulted Palestinians, slashed tires of IDF vehicles and thrown acid at Israeli soldiers.
It’s all part of a strategy the radicals call “price tag,” which aims to greet every move by the government against illegal settlements with mayhem and violence. Radical youth, encouraged by a small number of veteran settler leaders, are at the forefront of this effort.”
There have been other acts of arson committed by Jewish settlers. There will be more. With every such act of blind hatred and vandalism these settlers move farther and farther from the reasons Israel exists today.
There is a practice of handing down the Torah, customs, traditions, and many good things from generation to generation, L’dor v’Dor in Hebrew. Unfortunately, for some, intolerance is now included in the things handed down.
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/06/24/1005829/behind-the-headlines-radical-jewish-settlers
Some Jewish settlers turning against Israel
By Dina Kraft • June 24, 2009
Sunday, October 3, 2010
3 October 2010 more than one way to trim the DOD budget
8 private security firms banned in Afghanistan
By the CNN Wire Staff
October 3, 2010 10:24 a.m. EDT
“Afghanistan has banned eight private security firms, including the company formerly known as Blackwater, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai told reporters Sunday.
Among the companies whose operations are being dissolved are Xe (formerly known as Blackwater), NCL, FHI, White Eagles and other small companies, spokesman Waheed Omer said. Both international and domestic companies were affected.
Weapons and ammunition belonging to these companies has been seized, he said.
Xe has several operations in Afghanistan, some of which will not be immediately affected by the decision. While Xe's transportation and highway security operations have stopped, it will continue to offer security for embassies.”
http://us.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/03/afghanistan.banned.firms/index.html?hpt=T2
This is a step in the right direction for the U.S. military. We should not be using mercenaries to do the tasks formerly performed by soldiers and Marines. If there are too few troops available to carry out all the roles needed to maintain and re-supply our troops, too few for the military to be able to carry out its missions at home and abroad; we need to re-asses our military’s role in today’s world and how to meet its manpower needs.
The combat roles we must fill today require the best equipment and the best training we can provide our troops. But there are many roles that have been shifted from soldiers to “private contractors.” In particular, we are now paying companies like Xe to provide truck drivers and guards for both military and civilian facilities. Even worse, we are paying these private contractors at rates far above what we pay soldiers to perform the same tasks in more hostile conditions. Once again, we are allowing a network of mercenary contractors to raid the armed forces, thus reducing the available manpower, thus requiring “private contractors.”
The Marines used to provide actual as well as ceremonial security duties for our embassies. Soldiers used to drive their own resupply convoys. Now we’ve removed those duties from our armed forces and are paying private armies to act as if they were honestly soldiers.
If we can’t fill our manpower needs, increase recruitment and increase the size of our armed forces until we can. If we lose trained soldiers to corporations and to mercenaries, increase the pay scale for our armed forces. Whether we increase the size, the pay, or both, it will be cheaper than paying millions to mercenaries. If those options don’t provide sufficient manpower, bring back the draft. If we are in a justifiable war, then it is justifiable to involve the entire nation as in WWII. If it is not justifiable to draft citizens, then perhaps we should not be fighting that war. We should not be using mercenaries/private contractors for any of this nation’s military tasks. Even if it were cost-justifiable, they cannot be trusted. Armies that fight for hire can always be hired by someone willing to pay more.
The question remains, “Is this a good move for Afghanistan?” Honestly, I don’t know. It will reduce the number of armed men running around pretending to be soldiers but loyal to no government. It may allow Afghanistan to build up its police and military forces to the level needed to protect the population from guerrillas, insurgents, religious fanatics, and other forces that currently prevent it becoming a stable nation. More than likely, it will not lead to a more secure, less corrupt government, an educated population, what Afghanistan truly needs to become part of the 21st century. This may well be, in concert with our phased withdrawal from the theater, the equivalent of “Vietnamization.” We all know how well that worked. The South Vietnamese dropped all their U.S. paid for weaponry and high-tailed it out of their own nation. Care to bet how fast the Afghani government can pack up their lists of Swiss bank accounts and beg asylum in Europe?
By the CNN Wire Staff
October 3, 2010 10:24 a.m. EDT
“Afghanistan has banned eight private security firms, including the company formerly known as Blackwater, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai told reporters Sunday.
Among the companies whose operations are being dissolved are Xe (formerly known as Blackwater), NCL, FHI, White Eagles and other small companies, spokesman Waheed Omer said. Both international and domestic companies were affected.
Weapons and ammunition belonging to these companies has been seized, he said.
Xe has several operations in Afghanistan, some of which will not be immediately affected by the decision. While Xe's transportation and highway security operations have stopped, it will continue to offer security for embassies.”
http://us.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/03/afghanistan.banned.firms/index.html?hpt=T2
This is a step in the right direction for the U.S. military. We should not be using mercenaries to do the tasks formerly performed by soldiers and Marines. If there are too few troops available to carry out all the roles needed to maintain and re-supply our troops, too few for the military to be able to carry out its missions at home and abroad; we need to re-asses our military’s role in today’s world and how to meet its manpower needs.
The combat roles we must fill today require the best equipment and the best training we can provide our troops. But there are many roles that have been shifted from soldiers to “private contractors.” In particular, we are now paying companies like Xe to provide truck drivers and guards for both military and civilian facilities. Even worse, we are paying these private contractors at rates far above what we pay soldiers to perform the same tasks in more hostile conditions. Once again, we are allowing a network of mercenary contractors to raid the armed forces, thus reducing the available manpower, thus requiring “private contractors.”
The Marines used to provide actual as well as ceremonial security duties for our embassies. Soldiers used to drive their own resupply convoys. Now we’ve removed those duties from our armed forces and are paying private armies to act as if they were honestly soldiers.
If we can’t fill our manpower needs, increase recruitment and increase the size of our armed forces until we can. If we lose trained soldiers to corporations and to mercenaries, increase the pay scale for our armed forces. Whether we increase the size, the pay, or both, it will be cheaper than paying millions to mercenaries. If those options don’t provide sufficient manpower, bring back the draft. If we are in a justifiable war, then it is justifiable to involve the entire nation as in WWII. If it is not justifiable to draft citizens, then perhaps we should not be fighting that war. We should not be using mercenaries/private contractors for any of this nation’s military tasks. Even if it were cost-justifiable, they cannot be trusted. Armies that fight for hire can always be hired by someone willing to pay more.
The question remains, “Is this a good move for Afghanistan?” Honestly, I don’t know. It will reduce the number of armed men running around pretending to be soldiers but loyal to no government. It may allow Afghanistan to build up its police and military forces to the level needed to protect the population from guerrillas, insurgents, religious fanatics, and other forces that currently prevent it becoming a stable nation. More than likely, it will not lead to a more secure, less corrupt government, an educated population, what Afghanistan truly needs to become part of the 21st century. This may well be, in concert with our phased withdrawal from the theater, the equivalent of “Vietnamization.” We all know how well that worked. The South Vietnamese dropped all their U.S. paid for weaponry and high-tailed it out of their own nation. Care to bet how fast the Afghani government can pack up their lists of Swiss bank accounts and beg asylum in Europe?
Saturday, October 2, 2010
2 October 2010 I’ll see your VP and raise you three reality stars and a ball player
2 October 2010 I’ll see your VP and raise you three reality stars and a ball player
Cassi Creek
In a period in our history that offers the greatest possible exposure to the machinations of our governmental system, the most comprehensive, rapid, accurate (if one excludes Fox Propaganda) reporting on politics and politicians; too many of us have chosen to opt out of the process. There is no excuse for any citizen today to not be aware of the names of his Senators, his Congressional Representative, the Chief Justice, the major cabinet officers, and the Vice President and Speaker of the house. The better informed should also know state and local officials as well. But as Mr. Blow writes, we live in a world that seems to have forgotten that “We, the people” is not just an archaic phrase resurrected by Tea Party mobsters in yet another somewhat successful attempt to co-opt and re-write American history and its symbols.
“What’s Dumb, Really?
By CHARLES M. BLOW
Published: October 1, 2010 New York Times
“Big-city liberals and their blogging buddies love to paint Tea Partiers as yokels with incoherent candidates and language-mauling signs. (Some have even dubbed their misspellings and grammatical gaffes “Teabonics.”) On some level, this may be true. But there is also a certain hypocrisy to these taunts.
The unpleasant fact that these liberals rarely mention, and may not know, is that large swaths of the Democratic base, groups they need to vote in droves next month — blacks, Hispanics and young people — are far less civically literate than their conservative counterparts. “
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/opinion/02blow.html?ref=opinion
Cassi Creek
To lose an election to a party that truly fields a slate of honest and ethical candidates, that campaigns using truthful and honest ads, open opportunities for discussion of its goals, which insists that its candidates answer questions that come from the public rather than pretend to answer pre-screened questions posed by shills and plants; is distasteful but is what all political parties and their supporters should expect.
To lose to a party that plants a string of lies, innuendo, red herrings, and which circumvents campaign financing laws is not acceptable. It is inacceptable to lose to a party whose candidates will not answer questions in open forums but will repeatedly plant safe questions to provide the appearance of honest political campaigning. It is not acceptable to lose to a party which exemplifies dishonesty, hypocrisy, and corruption, which has no regard for the actual well-being of the American populace or nation. It is not acceptable to lose to a party which is willing to embrace and use racism, religious intolerance, xenophobia, and disdain for education as primary recruitment tools.
In short, it is not acceptable for the American public to see the GOP and its assorted mobs win elections by means of voter fraud, deceit, and most of all inaction on the part of other parties.
The failure to become politically aware and engaged is likely to hand the next Presidential election and the coming mid-term election to the GOP and its collection of lobbyists for corporate purchase of the U.S, government.
Obama won in 2008 by bringing the disengaged and indifferent to the polls. He has been repeatedly accused, by the right wing attack machines, of depending upon the votes of Blacks, Hispanics, other immigrants, and the “welfare cheats.” “Welfare cheats” currently comprise that growing pool of unemployed, outsourced, downsized, and outside the demographic considered employable for the few service jobs still available. They are the people drawing unemployment benefits that they paid insurance premiums for when they were employed. They are the people who are ill and unable to work any longer, the people who lost their retirement funds to unethical machinations on Wall Street and in the banking industry and now need a place to sleep, meals, medication, and the hope that somewhere down the timeline the “coalition of the unethical” will encounter retribution, justice, or karma.
Obama and the Democrats might be able to pull this election from the wreckage if they start playing to the young, unengaged, Black, Hispanic, unemployed, etc., that they used to win in 2008. If the GOP and the Tea Party mobs don’t like it, too damned bad. They have no license to complain about selective voter recruitment. They’re willing to crawl into bed with homophobes, xenophobes, racists, militia nuts, and any other splinter group that they can scare into voting their way.
The Obama machine and the Democrats need to pull their heads out and market where the message might possibly sink in. Quit running ads on network television. Buy time on every reality show, streamed music source, on-line video site, social networking site, and athletic competition that is willing to trade ad time for money. The young and the disaffected may not know American history but they know how to text their vote in, voice their opinions in sound bytes, blurbs, and tweets. They know professional athletes, pop starts, and they spend hours on-line or streaming, downloading, and staying in touch with their peers. It is time to use that constant connectivity that Gen Y seems to demand. By air time and send political ads by cell phone. Send blatant lies and attribute them to the GOP. Annoy the unengaged voters; make them think the GOP is doing it. It’s no less ethical than what takes place on television every day. Pay athletes and pop stars to insist that the non-voters turn out again as they did in 2008. It worked then against all hope. It needs to work again.
Of course, it wouldn’t work on me. I don’t know one pop star, movie star, actor, director, or athlete from another. But I’m older, I read, and I vote. I’ll be there to vote against the congressional representative from TN’s first congressional district. He’s about as unethical and unworthy as anyone I’ve ever voted against.
I spent the morning cleaning the pool, getting it ready to close. I’ve moved the winter cover from storage to the back deck so that the pool company can use it when they show up next week. I’ve moved the various floats, pool chemicals, and other items pool-related into winter storage. It’s a bright sunny autumn day and I’m happy to be here. And I'm sure Mr. Biden is happy to be Vice President.
Cassi Creek
In a period in our history that offers the greatest possible exposure to the machinations of our governmental system, the most comprehensive, rapid, accurate (if one excludes Fox Propaganda) reporting on politics and politicians; too many of us have chosen to opt out of the process. There is no excuse for any citizen today to not be aware of the names of his Senators, his Congressional Representative, the Chief Justice, the major cabinet officers, and the Vice President and Speaker of the house. The better informed should also know state and local officials as well. But as Mr. Blow writes, we live in a world that seems to have forgotten that “We, the people” is not just an archaic phrase resurrected by Tea Party mobsters in yet another somewhat successful attempt to co-opt and re-write American history and its symbols.
“What’s Dumb, Really?
By CHARLES M. BLOW
Published: October 1, 2010 New York Times
“Big-city liberals and their blogging buddies love to paint Tea Partiers as yokels with incoherent candidates and language-mauling signs. (Some have even dubbed their misspellings and grammatical gaffes “Teabonics.”) On some level, this may be true. But there is also a certain hypocrisy to these taunts.
The unpleasant fact that these liberals rarely mention, and may not know, is that large swaths of the Democratic base, groups they need to vote in droves next month — blacks, Hispanics and young people — are far less civically literate than their conservative counterparts. “
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/opinion/02blow.html?ref=opinion
Cassi Creek
To lose an election to a party that truly fields a slate of honest and ethical candidates, that campaigns using truthful and honest ads, open opportunities for discussion of its goals, which insists that its candidates answer questions that come from the public rather than pretend to answer pre-screened questions posed by shills and plants; is distasteful but is what all political parties and their supporters should expect.
To lose to a party that plants a string of lies, innuendo, red herrings, and which circumvents campaign financing laws is not acceptable. It is inacceptable to lose to a party whose candidates will not answer questions in open forums but will repeatedly plant safe questions to provide the appearance of honest political campaigning. It is not acceptable to lose to a party which exemplifies dishonesty, hypocrisy, and corruption, which has no regard for the actual well-being of the American populace or nation. It is not acceptable to lose to a party which is willing to embrace and use racism, religious intolerance, xenophobia, and disdain for education as primary recruitment tools.
In short, it is not acceptable for the American public to see the GOP and its assorted mobs win elections by means of voter fraud, deceit, and most of all inaction on the part of other parties.
The failure to become politically aware and engaged is likely to hand the next Presidential election and the coming mid-term election to the GOP and its collection of lobbyists for corporate purchase of the U.S, government.
Obama won in 2008 by bringing the disengaged and indifferent to the polls. He has been repeatedly accused, by the right wing attack machines, of depending upon the votes of Blacks, Hispanics, other immigrants, and the “welfare cheats.” “Welfare cheats” currently comprise that growing pool of unemployed, outsourced, downsized, and outside the demographic considered employable for the few service jobs still available. They are the people drawing unemployment benefits that they paid insurance premiums for when they were employed. They are the people who are ill and unable to work any longer, the people who lost their retirement funds to unethical machinations on Wall Street and in the banking industry and now need a place to sleep, meals, medication, and the hope that somewhere down the timeline the “coalition of the unethical” will encounter retribution, justice, or karma.
Obama and the Democrats might be able to pull this election from the wreckage if they start playing to the young, unengaged, Black, Hispanic, unemployed, etc., that they used to win in 2008. If the GOP and the Tea Party mobs don’t like it, too damned bad. They have no license to complain about selective voter recruitment. They’re willing to crawl into bed with homophobes, xenophobes, racists, militia nuts, and any other splinter group that they can scare into voting their way.
The Obama machine and the Democrats need to pull their heads out and market where the message might possibly sink in. Quit running ads on network television. Buy time on every reality show, streamed music source, on-line video site, social networking site, and athletic competition that is willing to trade ad time for money. The young and the disaffected may not know American history but they know how to text their vote in, voice their opinions in sound bytes, blurbs, and tweets. They know professional athletes, pop starts, and they spend hours on-line or streaming, downloading, and staying in touch with their peers. It is time to use that constant connectivity that Gen Y seems to demand. By air time and send political ads by cell phone. Send blatant lies and attribute them to the GOP. Annoy the unengaged voters; make them think the GOP is doing it. It’s no less ethical than what takes place on television every day. Pay athletes and pop stars to insist that the non-voters turn out again as they did in 2008. It worked then against all hope. It needs to work again.
Of course, it wouldn’t work on me. I don’t know one pop star, movie star, actor, director, or athlete from another. But I’m older, I read, and I vote. I’ll be there to vote against the congressional representative from TN’s first congressional district. He’s about as unethical and unworthy as anyone I’ve ever voted against.
. Knowing who is in office, knowing who is running for office, and voting against people like him is a sacred duty laid upon citizens by the founding fathers. I’m happy to play my role.
Friday, October 1, 2010
1 October 2010 odds and errands
We rolled up the solar blanket for the pool this morning. I’m hoping it will be dry by Monday. There is a lot of debris – leaves and worms- to be cleaned tomorrow.
I needed salt pellets for the well filters so that required a trip to Greeneville. While there it was also time to change oil and service the Pathfinder. I’ve been threatening to buy new wipers for a year. That is no longer a threat. The battery needed water and, in fact, two cells were dry. This battery was installed in September 2006, about a month before we moved here. It failed, without warning, in a restaurant parking lot around 2130 at night. It was just under warrantee. The current battery will require close attention now.
The people at the quick lube place were short staffed due to illnesses. I spent nearly an hour waiting for an advertised as ten minute service call. The woman who worked on my vehicle was exhibiting full blown rhinitis, coughing, hacking, and sneezing. I’ve wiped the interior surfaces down with disinfectant towels I took from the cart area of a grocery store after buying groceries.
Gloria’s in route to a dance workshop in NC. The house is quiet without her.
My notebook is sending out signals of some sort. Whatever it is saying, it is not a welcome message. Yesterday it failed, repeatedly, to boot, requiring a forced shutdown and reboot to work. Today it is extremely slow to boot. It also has been repeated the missing keyboard game in which no alpha-numeric or directional keys work. This game, too, requires a forced shutdown and reboot.
Shabbat Shalom!
I needed salt pellets for the well filters so that required a trip to Greeneville. While there it was also time to change oil and service the Pathfinder. I’ve been threatening to buy new wipers for a year. That is no longer a threat. The battery needed water and, in fact, two cells were dry. This battery was installed in September 2006, about a month before we moved here. It failed, without warning, in a restaurant parking lot around 2130 at night. It was just under warrantee. The current battery will require close attention now.
The people at the quick lube place were short staffed due to illnesses. I spent nearly an hour waiting for an advertised as ten minute service call. The woman who worked on my vehicle was exhibiting full blown rhinitis, coughing, hacking, and sneezing. I’ve wiped the interior surfaces down with disinfectant towels I took from the cart area of a grocery store after buying groceries.
Gloria’s in route to a dance workshop in NC. The house is quiet without her.
My notebook is sending out signals of some sort. Whatever it is saying, it is not a welcome message. Yesterday it failed, repeatedly, to boot, requiring a forced shutdown and reboot to work. Today it is extremely slow to boot. It also has been repeated the missing keyboard game in which no alpha-numeric or directional keys work. This game, too, requires a forced shutdown and reboot.
Shabbat Shalom!
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