The Roadkill Prayer

For all animal lovers! Really! En route to work, a passing motorist holds a funeral for a squirrel hit by a car... the Roadkill Prayer.

So, I turned around and drove back. I parked. I got out and searched through the trunk, coming up with some cardboard and a plastic lid with which to move his body. As I moved toward his body, one squirrel was trying to move his body, little legs widespread, pushing the body toward the curb with great difficulty. I paused as a truck approached, put my hand up to indicate slow down, and waived the driver around. I turned back to the body. He, for he was clearly male, was dead. I was relieved for that much for his own sake and for mine, as I do not know what I would have done if he were still alive and suffering ever so slowly to death from crushed innards. His right-hand eye was popped clear out of its socket. His teeth were pushed clear forward nearly out of his mouth, blood beginning to dry on his lips. I stooped down and scooped his furry tan-and-black body onto the hard plastic lid using the piece of cardboard. I moved his body to the side of the road beneath a three evergreen trees.

I placed his body on the ground, resting his paws in his breast, and having no spade with which to dig, I did my best to cover his body with earth using the plastic lid which I’d used to move his body. And with one squirrel on the ground to my left observing, another nearby in a tree chattering, and the third to my right up another tree, I made the Sign of the Cross, paused with them for a moment of silence, and then raising my hands in the orans position, I chanted aloud a version of my “Roadkill Prayer”:

Blessed are you, O God of all creation, we give you thanks for the life of this squirrel, your creature. Now receive him into your eternal care where he might enjoy you forever according to his estate; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I closed with the Sign of the Cross. Yes, it all felt a little silly at near 8:00 AM on a workday morn. A man was mowing his law across the street. What must he have thought as I stood there praying with three very twitchy squirrels momentarily still? Another Bay Area freak?

But the gesture was profoundly right. I was changed. It is as if scales began to fall from my eyes just a bit. Who pauses to mourn a squirrel? To think anew about how we drive without care of our surrounds and those who inhabit them with us? There are countless millions of these pesky rodents. Yet, this squirrel was a fellow creature, a unique creation of flesh and blood whom God declared “good, indeed, very good.” He too is a subject of God’s care and concern in his own right irrespective of how he stands in relation to us human beings. God hears his “Holy, holy, holy” with our own, as the Psalmist reminds: “All thy works shall give thanks to thee, O Lord, and all thy saints shall bless thee!”

With thanks to Episcopal Cafe. Cross posted at Blazing Indiscretions.

turning the world out

i don't know if it's cowardly to isolate from the news of the world. i do know it's a luxury and i don't take it for granted. i have no desire to take up the cause of anything anymore. it seems too much like tilting at windmills and i really think i am too old at this point to want to do so. i find it ironic that my foray into my ancestry has opened me up to history that is far too much like the present to suit me. i am currently reading thoreau's 'civil disobedience' and just finished 'walden'- and although he wrote these in the 1840's and '50's, it could easily have been today. corrupt and greedy politicians and materialistic citizens seem to be the american way and it's a real shame. thoreau tilted at windmills too.

i did have an interesting, ironic twist in my readings- my father's family on his maternal side are part of the seneca nation. and as i was driving home today, i caught myself thinking- if i had to give up my life tomorrow- my home, family, means of provision- i wouldn't be any different than my ancestors almost 300 years ago. those folks had homes- not tepees- and acres of corn, beans, etc., they had villages and keepsakes and lives. and they were taken away by the same type of corrupt, greedy bastards that run things here today.

my mom tells me that there is a saying out there that goes 'if you know history, it can't repeat itself'- or something like that. i can honestly say that it is patently untrue. it doesn't matter if one knows what happened before your time- human nature is a constant. only technology changes.

World Animal Day

Today is World Animal Day and Animal Welfare Sunday.

Some liturgical churches also celebrate October 4th as the Feast of St Francis of Assisi with blessings of animals. Writing in the Church Times from the UK, Revd Professor Andrew Linzey, Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics:

The Church of England has spent decades in liturgical renewal, but does not offer even one prayer for animal welfare. We pray as if God were uninterested in the millions of other species. There is, of course, plenty of sensitivity for the misnamed “our environment”, but when it comes to confronting our responsibilities to individual crea­tures, official publications fall silent.

A classic example was when the Church of England published prayers this summer for those suffer­ing from swine flu. Here was an opportunity to also remember the thousands of pigs suffering appalling conditions, since their maltreatment was one of the causal links to the disease from which human beings now suffer. In the words of one scientist at the United States Food and Drug Ad­min­istration, “high-density inten­sive animal operations” are “hotbeds for pathogens”.

Some note of penitence that our gastronomic greed might have helped land us in the mess in the first place would have been wholesome. More....

Thanks to Episcopal Cafe's Speaking to the Soul offering a perfect reading meditation for today from Ask the Animals: Spiritual Wisdom from All God’s Creatures by Elizabeth Canham

The Hebrew Scriptures offer many poetic images of creation and the Creator’s purpose and joy in all that comes to be. As each new phase of creation unfolds, God proclaims, “It is good.” And when humanity arrives on the scene, the Creator entrusts the care of all that has been made into our hands.

Animals especially invite our attention and honor because their essential nature is mostly devoid of the kind of pretense we have learned to practice in cultural and religious life. If they are angry, they express anger; when joy fills them, they live their joy; and when danger approaches, they recognize it for what it is and take action. Animals express deep care for their young, know how to find and enjoy food, accept their limitations, and live in harmony with the rhythms of day and night, times and seasons.

My love for animals was a gift from my mother, who tenderly lifted earthworms from harm’s way, though she feared their wriggling bodies. This love that my mother taught me was kept underground for many years as I defended an infallible Bible and the Sovereign God who authored it. My spiritual journey has led me away from this early, rigid approach to Scripture, but my joy in the sacred text increased as I learned to allow the various writers to inhabit their own time and culture. With this fresh understanding of Scripture, I also learned to read from God’s “other book”—creation. I now understand how St. Anthony could point to the rugged mountains surrounding his cave-dwelling and answer a philosopher who asked how he would pray without a copy of the Scriptures, “Creation will be my book.”

In the last few years, animals have increasingly arrested my attention and taught me more about the Creator. When I have preached or offered retreats, I have felt compelled to share stories of animal encounters to illuminate Scripture. Many I speak with have a tenuous relationship with organized religion, often because they have felt abused by a church that used the Bible moralistically and denied the value of personal experience and questions. They have turned to God’s other book, preferring time in the midst of creation to pew-bound Sunday mornings. Others who have remained in the church ask why we have often been so self-focused that we have failed to recall and receive the wisdom of the whole created order. Both groups know that each of us, through animal encounters, may deepen our relationship with the Source of all Being. “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.”

J'accuse!

The response to Roman Polanski's arrest from people who put themselves on the forefront of many cultural, social and political issues, is unconscionable and mind-boggling.

The very same individuals who, between their red carpet appearances, can carry on with a seemingly genuine passion about human rights and social justice, have come out in defense of a child rapist and fugitive because he is one of their own. And, oh, a genius. One would imagine that with their gifts and privilege comes a greater responsibility for upholding the principles they appear to champion during their photo-ops, interviews, and lectures. One would be sorely mistaken.

Their duplicity offends every human sensibility that informs us about right and wrong. In essence, by protesting Polanski's arrest and probable extradition, the members of the cultural and political elites have sanctioned both child rape and the splendid notion that when you commit one, you can and should run from justice. The clear message they send is that the child victim, her fate, and the rule of law are less important than their ability to pursue their own interests and goals unencumbered by the pesky moral and legal obligations, which bind the rest of the human race. They have, effectively, elevated themselves above morality and law. And they appear surprised that the rest of us are appalled and do not approve.

Film producer Henning Molfenter, a member of the Zurich Film Festival jury, expressed his own outrage and that of his colleagues when he made a brave decision to boycott the festival and the Swiss: There is no way I'd go to Switzerland now. You can't watch films knowing Roman Polanski is sitting in a cell 5km away .

And I want to ask: But you could and you did watch movies and did lots of other fantastic things with the child rapist throughout all these years -- and that was OK?

The crème de la crème's massive and heated protest of Polanski's arrest is a slap in the face of every victim of child, but not only, sexual abuse and rape. The familiar dynamics of post-abuse denials, rationalizations, and re-traumatizing of the victim(s) are being played out on a world's stage right now, this time with actual actors and playwrights taking on roles written for them by their own compromised consciences (if they even have those).

Victims of sexual abuse, those who have been brave enough to come forward with their stories and confront their abusers, know this script very well:

Oh, he couldn't have done it! Are you sure this is what really happened? He is such a nice man, a pillar of the community, a good father, husband, artist, priest, what have you. Can you imagine him being a rapist? Of course not, I can't either. He doesn't look like a rapist and he is so charming! Well, what did she do to provoke it? She must have done something, you know it. She'd better have some solid proof if she wants to smear such a decent man. Better yet, she needs to keep the story to herself. It's for her own good. Just imagine, she can ruin not only his and his family life, but also her own. And what does she really want, coming forward with these outlandish accusations?

The particulars change, but the story, with its predictable development, is always the same. It no longer surprises, though it is no less inhumane and damaging. However, it is stunning and breathtaking, in a very bad way, to see it writ large, involving people who (some of them at least) pride themselves on possessing unusual insights into human nature.

Here are their names -- directors, producers, actors, politicians, American and European (the list is incomplete and will expand with time):

Woody Allen, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Martin Scorcese, David Lynch, Wong Kar Wai, Harmony Korine, Stephen Frears, Alexander Payne, Wim Wenders, Tilda Swinton, Pedro Almodovar, Harvey Weinstein, Penelope Cruz, Sam Mendes, Michael Mann, Darren Aronofsky, Terry Gilliam, Julian Schnabel, the Dardenne brothers, Ariel Dorfman, Costa Gavras, Walter Salles, Jonathan Demme, Monica Bellucci, Asia Argento, Henning Molfenter, Til Schweiger, Niki Reiser, Jan Kounen, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Salman Rushdie, Milan Kundera, Neil Jordan, Isabelle Adjani, Isabelle Huppert, Mike Nichols, Diane von Furstenberg, Paul Auster, Debra Winger, Whoopi Goldberg, Mia Farrow, Nastasja Kinsky, Izabella Cywińska, Jacek Bromski, Feliks Falk, Janusz Głowacki, Andrzej Jakimowski, Janusz Morgenstern, Krystyna Morgenstern, Agnieszka Odorowicz, Jerzy Skolimowski, Maciej Strzembosz, Małgorzata Szumowska, Krystyna Zachwatowicz, Andrzej Wajda, Krzyszof Zanussi, Dorota Stalinska, Lech Wałęsa, Radoslaw Sikorski.

====

For news reports and legal information about Polanski's case, go to Andrew Vachss' site The Zero.

P.S. Dedicated to Whoopi Goldberg et al: All Rape is Real Rape by Alice Vachss.

Our Final Frontier: Keep Space for Peace

Their goal is cosmic: to keep the arms race out of the heavens. That's why October 3-10 is worldwide "Keep Space for Peace Week: International Days of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space," announced the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.

Events this year focus on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan but are controlled by pilots at computer terminals on bases in the US. Death at a distance is still blood on our hands, the group contends. The technology produces massive civilian casualties.

Satellite communication technology drives the remote-control robots that devastate targets around the globe, according Dave Webb, Global Network chairperson. "We must not allow these technologies to go unchallenged. Indeed we must do all we can to stop the spread and rule of violence and destruction," he says. The week reminds the public "what kind of a destabilizing future these systems could create."

Protests are planned throughout the world at city centers and key space related factories and military bases. Groups will hold educational forums featuring space videos throughout the week. The actions are co-sponsored by the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, and the World March for Peace & Non-Violence. Space Week protest sites are listed at http://www.space4peace.org/actions/ksfpw09.htm

Actual Pentagon Space Command plans for "control and domination" of space are available for public viewing at http://www.gsinstitute.org/gsi/docs/vision_2020.pdf Below is one illustration from the document, a Star Wars-mimicking graphic, captioned: "US Space Command-dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect US interests and investment. Integrating Space Forces into warfighting capabilities across the full spectrum of conflict"

The 2009 Space Week poster

Source: Press release, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.

Contact: Bruce Gagnon (207) 443-9502. No copyright restrictions.

Anne Frank on YouTube

A first...A 13 year old Anne Frank is filmed, seen leaning over her balcony in Merwedeplein in July, 1941 to get a good look of the bride-to-be next door.



Many thanks to RickB, who writes

[I]t’s very effective, ties her into the here and now which will hopefully help keep the message alive, the lesson of the Holocaust is that this must never happen again to anyone.

The Anne Frank House has also established a YouTube channel.

[It} shows existing and new images about Anne Frank, including excerpts from interviews with Otto Frank and witnesses like Miep Gies, as well as previews of the virtual museum of the Anne Frank House, soon to be opened to the public. With this Anne Frank Channel, people around the world will be able to explore the life and significance of Anne Frank through unique images. Would you like to stay up to date? Subscribe to this channel.

UPDATED - The Professor as Entrepreneur: Chief virologist in Holland under fire over drugs firm link

UPDATE BELOW

I am not sure which is wackier, the disaster politics of the H1N1 vaccine or ethics standards at Erasmus University Medical Center, a teaching hospital in Rotterdam. Ab Osterhaus, chief virologist at Erasmus, has advised the the Dutch government and international agencies (WHO, for one) on approaches to fighting the flu pandemic and has even recommended that the government purchase flu vaccines. DutchNews.nl reports he works part time for—and has a 10 percent share in—the university-owned ViroClinics which is researching a flu vaccine.

Anton Westerlaken, chairman of Erasmus MC, told the Telegraaf professors have to become a shareholder in any company set up under university auspices to exploit a patent. Any profits are divided 80% to the university and 20% to the professors involved, he said.

Osterhaus told the paper he had done nothing wrong. 'I have always said I am involved in that company and shares are all in the game,' he said.

Earlier this year Osterhaus denied having shares in the companies making vaccines.

Of course, as a powerful institution clearly worried about its reputation, Erasmus has covered its ass today with a perfunctory statement (Dutch) stating that there is no conflict of interest. But it owes the public a thorough explanation of how and why Professor Osterhaus' initially lying about his connection to profit-making companies did not violate medical center ethical guidelines. Was Erasmus aware of that? If so, why didn't they do something about it?

Cross posted at Antemedius and Blazing Indiscretions.

UPDATE

This story is becoming worthy of a Molière farce. Professor Osterhaus' interests and influence are a tangled web indeed. Erasmus MC may want to revise its statement. DutchNews.nl cites reports today in Financieele Dagblad that he

is also chairman of Belgian foundation ESWI which promotes the use of vaccines and is sponsored by the global vaccine industry, the paper says.

GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, the two companies which are supplying the Dutch government with 34 million swine flu doses on Osterhaus' recommendations, are both among the sponors, the paper says.

In addition, Osterhaus is an advisor at Britain's Jenner Institute which develops animal vaccines and has close industry ties.

Good on the FD's investigative journalism! So, Erasmus gave Osterhaus a pass and a nod. How many members of the hospital's professional medical ethics board are linked to BigPharma?

Democratic Hall of Shame

Two amendments proposing a public option were shot down in the Senate Finance Committee today: the first amendment was crafted by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and rejected in a 15-8 vote (five Democrats joined all the Republicans), and the second one, by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), was killed by a vote of 13-10, with three Democrats joining the Republicans.

Here they are, the Infamous Five (really GOPers in sheep's clothing):

Sen. Max Bupkus Baucus (D-Mont.)


Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)


Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.)


Sen. Kent Clueless Conrad (D-N.D.)


and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.)


As HuffPo reports, there were predictable eruptions of idiocy during SFC's deliberations:

Republican senators argued that the public option would bankrupt the country and lead to a single-payer system.* "Government is not a competitor. Government is a predator," said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).**

Yet the GOP also defended Medicare, which Democrats took pains to point out was a government-run plan.

Sen. Rockefeller is not daunted by today's defeat. As he told HuffPo, "The public option is on the march," a view echoed by Robert Reich in his recent blog post.

So let's do our civic duty and deluge our representatives' offices, again, with e-mails, phone calls and faxes, to make sure that PO stays alive and we won't have to resort to a single prayer option for our health care needs.

*Like it's a bad thing.

**I've been sayin', it's time to pull the plug on Chuck.

Cross-posted at The Middle of Nowhere.

human nature

i have been reading a bit about the early history of new york state- as i am a native upstate new yorker. i always preface with 'upstate' because folks who aren't from here often tend to think that manhattan is all there is to new york state. on the contrary, upstate has just as rich a history as downstate- and indeed, the mighty iroquois nation encompassed just about all of new york state and surrounding territories down into tennessee and the carolinas. i wanted to know a bit more of what my ancestors were about- my father's family is seneca. i discovered many things- ironic and interesting- the iroquois did not care for the french and yet, the name iroquois is the french term for the 6 nations; and seneca is derived from the dutch term sinnikar which actually came from the algonquin term osinika. neat stuff.

the more relevant facts i am finding out- human nature brought the 6 nations down from being one of the mightiest foes of the europeans- to being relegated to 3 small reservations in all of the state they used to own. empire building never ends well. any of the ancient civilizations could tell us that. the seneca nation was the mightiest and strongest out of the 6 nations in the iroquois league and their zeal for battle and honor helped bring the league down. they would replace their ranks with captives who swore fealty and loyalty to the league. that never works. and so it didn't when the league turned towards defending themselves against the americans before and after the revolution.

i hear the sabre rattling again with iran and other nations around the world. the united states of america was modeled somewhat after the league of 6 nations- and the irony is we always thought we had a democratic republic. turns out we had an oligarchy from the start. we would do well to learn from the iroquois because constant warfare and arrogance brought them to their knees. they were united under the guise of stability and peace- but subjugated under that banner and forced loyalty where there was none.

reading that history and more modern history- and looking back to ancient greece and rome- well, doesn't appear that human nature changes all that much. only our technology.

Politics: War Atrocities

Goya, War

Because, as you know, this blog is dedicated to peace, to the end of war and its atrocities, to the hope of a brighter tomorrow when we will no longer throw our children — and everyone else's — into the gaping maw of Moloch.

[READ MORE +/-]

The combat soldier, as an absolutely deprived person, responds to direct situational exigencies. [...] Deadening fear intermingles with acts of bravery. [...]

If enemy prisoners are taken, they may be subjected to atrocities in the rage of the battle or its immediate aftermath. The soldier's distaste of endangering civilians may be overcome by his fear that [the enemy], of any age or sex, can be responsible for his own death (Ed: Or the death of those of his comrades whom he has been trained to think of as his best and only friends.) Where the opportunity arises, looting often occurs. War souvenirs are frequently collected either to be kept personally or later sold to rear-echelon servicemen. (Italics added. Editorial note from ThePoliticalCat.)

— Charles C. Moskos, as cited inMalaya and Singapore During The Japanese Occupation

The "absolutely deprived person" status that is inflicted on servicemen as part of their basic training has the effect of deadening them to all that is human and humane. Apparently, such deadening no longer has the desired effect, for even these poor, pitiful humans retain some vestige of conscience and feeling. They come back from their war crimes with PTSD, and inflict upon their loved ones, neighbours, families, and society in general, the cost of rehabilitating them and dealing with their costly and painful suffering.

Thus, our armies now seek robots, "unmanned drones," that do not, and cannot, suffer any twinge of conscience about killing the innocent, the unarmed, the civilians who are so unfortunate as to live in a zone of war.

It is stated as a matter of fact in many of the memoirs written by PoWs in the Pacific Theater during WW II that their Korean and Taiwanese guards were often more brutal and inhumane than even the Japanese soldiers, who committed unparalleled war crimes in their imperialist expansion into Southeast Asia. Upon reading at greater length of the treatment meted out to these unfortunate "Imperial subjects" of Korea and Taiwan, it becomes clear that the dehumanization process to which these unfortunate "subjects" were subjected could only be remedied or stalled by inflicting upon their helpless prisoners torments that were at least as unpleasant as those that they themselves suffered.

Thus the cycle continues. Each person one rung up on the ladder of abuse directs their kicks and blows to those one rung below. Those at the very bottom of that ladder have no one upon whom to vent their frustrations and rage, and so turn them inward and punish each other and themselves, as they have been taught and shown to do.

Picasso, Guernica

When will humanity emerge from these dark ages? When will we evolve beyond the need of war? It must come soon, or we will surely destroy ourselves and all we hold dear. Iran announced the existence of a hidden uranium-refining facility, and everywhere, the neocons have crawled out of the woodwork demanding an immediate attack upon that unfortunate nation. Why? Because the government of the State of Israel, a bunch of neocon hacks and hawks to the last man, are "afraid" of the possibility that Iran might soon have nuclear weapons. Earliest estimates of this happening range from one to five years. Not that facts should get in the way of hysteria, of course.

Israel possesses an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but will neither confirm nor deny that it does so. Israel is not a signatory to the NNPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty). Iran is. Iran has notified the IAEA, as required by its membership in the IAEA, of its "secret" facility. Iran has also agreed to permit IAEA inspectors to assess its nuclear sites. Israel, not being a signatory to this, most important treaty, refuses to release any information whatsoever about what its doing with nuclear power. Israel is a hawkish state, constantly engaging in acts of hostility against its neighbours, supported by the U.S. to the tune of $10 million in taxpayer money PER DAY. In addition to obscene yearly quantities of military aid. Just this year, despite our own horrendous economic situation, we gave Israel nearly $3 billion in military aid.

The interests of the Israeli people are not being represented by their government, which prefers to use its own civilians as an excuse for further armament rather than negotiate peaceful solutions with its neighbours. Children of Abraham, of Hagar and Sarah, the time has come to beat your swords into plowshares. If you do not, then you will all be obliterated when the Third World War begins, because there are too many people who want it to begin on your doorstep. It is not a war that anyone will survive.

As Tom Lehrer sang, "We'll all go together when we go." Rather than contemplate the death of every living being on this planet, let us work together to a just solution. It can be done, if we all insist on it. Those Christian Dominionists who want Armageddon and The Rapture, do you think that teacher who said "Love thy neighbour as thyself; there is no greater commandment than [this]" would care for your efforts to create Armageddon?

Crossposted over at The Political Cat

Louder than Bombs! Sonic cannon used against citizenry: Pittsburgh, Tegucigalpa

For the first time in U.S. history, this week officials used a long range acoustic device [LRAD] "sonic cannon" against U.S. civilians in Pittsburgh at the G-20 protests. Meanwhile, in Honduras, the same weapon, along with chemical warfare, assaulted the Brazilian embassy sheltering deposed President Manual Zelaya.

"The [Pittsburgh] police fired a sound cannon that emitted shrill beeps, causing demonstrators to cover their ears and back up," reported The New York Times. The YouTube video shows the blast deployment at the top of this post. While the link stays active at this CNN site, you can watch a CNN reporter attempting to communicate during one blast.

The UN Security Council called on the de facto government of Honduras to "cease harassing the Brazilian Embassy" and "condemned acts of intimidation" in response to sound device use and chemical warfare against the building.

The LRAD device, described as "a nonlethal weapon," is capable of emitting sound at a level that is capable of permanently damaging hearing and higher than the normal human threshold of pain (120-140 dB).

The audio cannon manufactured by American Technology Corporation (ATCO), a San Diego-based company. Company stock was trading up over 15 percent in heavy activity late Friday, according to DailyFinance.com.

Flu Nightmare: Officials ponder extreme triage measures

Thanks to Edger at Antimedius for bringing this news to our attention. (Today's post can also be read at Blazing Indiscretions.)

Sheri Fink recently wrote an in-depth article about post-Katrina deaths at Memorial Medical Center. Now she - pardon the pun - ventilates proposed shocking plans in ProPublica, September 23, 2009 (view source). Oh my, talk about government death panels...during a severe flu pandemic, a family's advance directive plans ensuring their loved ones' end of life and other critical healthcare decisions will not be honored:

With scant public input, state and federal officials are pushing ahead with plans that -- during a severe flu outbreak -- would deny use of scarce ventilators by some patients to assure they would be available for patients judged to benefit the most from them.

The plans have been drawn up to give doctors specific guidelines for extreme circumstances, and they include procedures under which patients who weren’t improving would be removed from life support with or without permission of their families.

The plans … more…

Right before Yom Kippur, too

A mitzvah this ain't. From Politico -

A White House official told Jewish leaders on a conference call today that the U.S. will use its veto in the U.N. Security Council, if necessary, to block the international body from acting on a report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza, according to two people on the call.

[Jay V edit: it's the 575-page Goldstone report by a fact-finding mission organised by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.]

The National Security Council's Dan Shapiro said President Obama assured the Israeli Prime Minister yesterday of the U.S stand on the Goldstone Report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which has been a source of major concern for the Israelis. Shapiro said the U.S. agrees with the Israeli view that the report is one-sided, and would block a referral to the International Criminal Court.

The U.S. pledge comes as the Israeli side was already declaring victory in avoiding a total freeze on settlements, and it's likely to further alienate Palestinian leaders whom the U.S. is simultaneously trying to lure to the negotiating table.

The JTA, which broke the news, has more background on the subject.

Cross posted at Antimedius and Blazing Indiscretions.

Obama's Wars: It's shades of Vietnam as U.S. commanders beg for more troops to fight in Afghanistan

Cross posted at Blazing Indiscretions.

Four quotes from an article by Eric Margolis in the Toronto Sun show how Americans don't know their history of failed imperialism when they plan their wars of occupation.

'Each time the U.S. sent more troops and bombed more villages, Afghan resistance sharply intensified and Taliban expanded its control, today over 55% of the country.'
[...]
'Any student of Imperialism 101 knows that after invading a resource-rich or strategic nation you immediately put a local stooge in power, use disaffected minorities to run the government (divide and conquer), and build a native mercenary army.'
[...]
'Such troops, commanded by white officers, were called "sepoys" in the British Indian Army and "askaris" in British East Africa.'
[...]
'The American command, deprived of men and resources by the Bush administration, only managed to cobble together an armed rabble of 80,000 Afghans. The Afghan army, like the post-Saddam Iraqi army, is led by white officers -- in this case, Americans designated "trainers" or "advisers."

'Afghanistan keeps giving me deja vu back to the old British Empire, and flashbacks to those wonderful epic films of the Raj, Drums, Lives of a Bengal Lancer, and Kim. The British imperialists did it much, much better, and with a lot more style. Many of their imperial subjects even admired and liked them.'

not so instant gratification

i have not been following any news- so, i'll leave that in more qualified hands for now. :) i have been spending some quality time with my hubby and slowing life down for a few days- but, now, it's back into the action. winter is coming and i have odds and ends to do to winterize. and i really don't mind. i find that i have no trouble staying busy these days in spite of not working outside of the home. it's a full time job running my home and helping the fam with theirs. but, i do keep up with friends now and again- and i find i am running into a dilemma. i have old school friends who snail mail me with a letter now and again- and i like that. it's like a gift in the mailbox. i also have techie friends who prefer the texting, emailing and chatting. not a big fan of the instant chat. i have a few folks who still cling to the telephone- or cell phone- for their socializing needs and that's where i bog down.

i hate talking on the phone. no, that's not true. i hate talking on the phone when i have nothing whatsoever to say. it's ugly. i can talk on the phone with my mother for an hour at a time- it's actually more like a monologue than dialogue- but i have been finding that it's the folks i don't really care to talk to for any length of time who are reaching out to me via the phone. and many of them are on facebook. makes no sense. anyhoo, in the age of instant gratification, i put my foot down- i don't participate. i have enough stimulus in my life that i don't need any tweeting or google chatting or whatever.

send me a letter- and i'll send you a postcard :)

International Peace Day: September 21

The theme of the United Nations International Peace Day 2009 is "We Must Disarm." It's focus is on the true costs and dangers of nuclear weapons.



Click this link for an ecumenical prayer service resource (pictured above), written from a Christian perspective by Marlette Black, PBVM. You're free to download and reproduce it to celebrate International Peace Day.

This reading from that service honors the poets, making it a fitting tribute to The Peace Tree's Poetryman:

Making Peace

A voice from the dark called out,

‘The poets must give us imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar imagination of disaster.

Peace, not only the absence of war.'

But peace, like a poem,

Is not there ahead of itself,

Can't be imagined before it is made,

Can't be known except in the words of its making,

Grammar of justice,

Syntax of mutual aid.

A feeling towards it,

Dimly sensing a rhythm, is all we have

Until we begin to utter its metaphors,

Learning them as we speak.

A line of peace might appear

If we restructured the sentence our lives are making,

Revoked its reaffirmation of profit and power,

Questioned our needs, allowed long pauses...

A cadence of peace might balance its weight

On that different fulcrum; peace, a presence, an energy field more intense than war,

Might pulse then,

Stanza by stanza into the world,

Each act of living

One of its words, each word

A vibration of light-facets

Of the forming crystal.

--Denise Levertov

Hitler despises Kanye West's Actions

I think this is an extremely funny video by beeerent!

americans today and tomorrow cling to yesterday

i listen to quite a bit of van morrison- love the man. but i thought i would take a break the other day and listen to the eagles- long road out of eden- and when i got to the second disc- whoa! now, when you think political music- springsteen comes to mind amongst others, but i will hazard a guess that the eagles don't top the list. you should check them out. it's a great set. henley, frey and the gang don't mince words and they skillfully weave them to get their point across- not just about politics but about culture.

it's funny because i used to think i was outside looking in on the culture- and now, i know i am. american culture sucks- arrogant, self-centered, pushy, rude- or at least it's how it has been. apparently, the right wing screwed themselves because from the sounds of things- folks are turning more liberal. sharing and not buying new? good lord! the rapture must be coming!

i admit, i have not been keeping up with what passes for the news these days- i mean there is only so much outright lying and fakery i can stand. and what i do scan the headlines and see, makes me sad. you aren't going to find many places where information is sewn together to formulate the big picture- it's like a mystery to solve, all of the pieces are there but you have to figure it out yourself. gore vidal wrote a fantastic article a while ago and i have not read it's entirety because it was too much. but putting it together with this article i read through today- really makes me sad. sad because americans are not willing to see what this country is today- americans cling to the notion of what we used to be.

i would love to be able to do that, but i can't. i know where we came from and what we are today- and i have a pretty fair idea of where we are headed. it's not a pretty picture. but i don't want to end on a down note- i love clara. she is a treasure and a gem- and if you check out her youtube channel, you won't be disappointed. she has seen much and lived through much- but her spirit lives on.

Dance Like an Idiot for World Peace

Get in on the ground floor of a new wave in the peace movement. A fledgling Facebook group unites peace-lovers across the globe in engaging their creativity--not just giving lip service--for world peace.

JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP HERE. (Facebook account required to participate).

Pete Hughes of Sheffeld explains his concept:

I genuinely believe that if everybody in the world were able to shake off their fears and inhibitions in the way that Myles and I have done, world peace would indeed ensue.

Fear stifles creativity in humans and lack of creativity means that human problems are not solved. Think about the conflicts in the world, two bitterly opposed sides with viewpoints that have barely changed for centuries. Why have they barely changed? Because everyone is scared to do something different. Scared to stand up and say 'Hang on a minute, we've been doing this for hundreds of years, and nothing has changed. Maybe let's brainstorm some brand new ideas?'

Everyone is too scared of 'what others might think' if they stand up and challenge the (LONG) established views of their country or their religion with brand new and perhaps 'weird' ideas.

"Dancing like an idiot immediately rids us of the stupid false sense of self-importance that leads us to consider ourselves better than our fellow humans, wherever they may be. Not only that, but the laughter it brings to others is like reaching out and hugging them.

We are saying: 'Hey, we're not so different after all. You can dance like idiots just like us.'"

Click to see Myles shed his inhibitions and dance for world peace!! ~
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JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP HERE. (Facebook account required to participate). See you there!

The Big Fool says to push on with "overseas contingency operations"

As we celebrate Perpetual War Day, I am reminded of this song sung by Pete Seeger.



Cross posted at Blazing Indiscretions.

Real life military equipment and bloody video games...

We, the undersigned concerned citizens, demand that Simon Property Group, Inc., owners of the Franklin Mills Mall, Philadelphia, close the "Army Experience Center."

This Center, run by the United States Army, and paid for with our tax dollars, allows access to real life military equipment, bloody video games, and gives our youth free reign to stay in its location for hours using machine guns aimed at life-like targets.

We should be deeply outraged and upset by the militarization of our youth. Any and all citizens of this Country should be outraged by this fact. If we do not stand against this, we are no better than those in third world countries with child armies that our government constantly criticizes.

Shut the AEC down. War is not a game. Shame on those who think it is!

Contact the owners of the mall and say no to the AEC: https://www.simon.com/about_si...

Please sign the petition...

Now You See It, Now You Don't, or The Curious Case of The Disappearing Public Option

I would have sworn I heard President Obama say last night that he "supports" the public option. He did it in that cool and non-committal way he has been doing it since he became President -- he supports, but stays open-minded and not dogmatic, and is open to suggestions.

It is a disturbing kind of open-mindedness, in my opinion, and part of that crazy pragmatism Obama has been accused of by many progressives, including his own doctor. There were already worrisome statements in his speech with regard to PO -- for example, that it would include at best only about 5% of our population (so how strong can it be? what will be the real criteria for participation? can people like us, not poor, but no longer able to afford their overpriced, individually bought coverage sign up? etc.) or his insistence that it's only a small part of the reform package, and so on.

As soon as I got on-line, I saw e-mails from the usual suspects: Firedoglake, SEIU, New York Senator Kristine Hilldebrand, imploring me to support them and/or call my representative again ASAP and insist on the public option in our health care reform bill. Or write letters to the editor (per FDL).

The e-mails were urgent in tone, stating, sensibly enough, that even though our President supports the public option, he did not say he will fight for it. Surely these guys know what's cooking. There was also an e-mail from President Obama urging me/us to contact our reps in support of his reform efforts. (BTW, I've done it all numerous times.)

Then came Charlie Rose on TV with his post-speech discussion, which involved Democratic Reps. Anthony Weiner from New York and Kathleen Dahlkemper from PA, Al Hunt from Bloomberg News, Joseph Califano, David Brooks from NYT, Republican Rep. Thaddeus McCotter from Michigan, and Rich Lowry, editor of National Review.

First, Rose talked about the health care reform with Reps. Weiner, Dahlkemper and McCotter. The former two were strongly in favor of PO (Dahlkemper is a Blue Dog who became convinced that only PO can honestly reform the system at this point), while McCotter did what Republicans usually do -- opposed everything they said, though in the manner reasonable enough for a GOPer, pointing out, for example that Dems themselves are not sure what they want in their final bill.

True, though he did this with that annoying customary GOP glee and satisfaction over the Dems confusion. I know, it's hard to blame him for that; however, his behavior again shows the Republican M.O. -- sit back, do nothing/offer nothing of value, and watch the Dems screw up whatever it is to screw up. (BTW, McCotter is one cool cucumber -- and he looks like one too: tall, bald, shiny and shapeless.)

And then something strange happened: Rose parted with Weiner and Dahlkemper, retained McCotter, and brought to the table Brooks, Hunt, Califano, and the geek extraordinaire, Rich Lowry, dripping with disdain (he is, after all, from National Review). The mood of the whole gathering changed, and good punditing times were had by most, while they all, collectively, put PO to death.

I thought, wait a minute! Was I beamed up to some kind of a twilight zone? I could have sworn I heard Obama express his support for PO, yet the whole punditry forum, the majority of which was positively inclined toward Obama, declared PO dead on arrival, with as much as a hand-waving ironic gesture from Brooks, indicating that he never believed PO was even seriously considered by the President. Neither did Hunt or Califano, though Lowry had to stress that he remained wary of anything in the health bill that smacked of anything publicky and stated, with his trademark disdain, shared with McCotter, that progressive Democrats would be stupid to insist on PO and ruin the reform efforts by doing so. (Though I strongly suspect he may be hoping for just that.)
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Brooks went so far as saying that Obama will not stick by PO because he knows well that Dems will support any reform efforts and will take whatever comes in the name of "reform," if only for their political survival reasons. Most agreed that Obama essentially endorsed Baucus's plan in his speech. (I missed that, but that's what they heard as the bottom line.) McCotter -- gleefully, of course -- did his Republican shtick, insisting that the "government-takeover of health care" is not a solution and that we should start from the beginning, in a true bipartisan fashion. We know what that means, of course, so no decoding necessary.

But the way things stand, PO may indeed be DOA, what with the president's open-mindedness and the GOP obstinate refusal to grow a conscience. Brooks et al. brought up, rather off-handedly, the idea of co-ops or a trigger as alternatives to PO, but did not linger on the subject as for them this was a moot point to begin with.

Their nonchalance was educational, I must say. The pundits would be happy with semi-dysfunctional co-ops which have proven to be no better than the private insurance cartel in delivering cost-effective and humane health care, or the (even more?) ridiculous idea of a trigger for PO, should the private insurance mafia decided not to shape up. (And what are the chances of that? They had decades to shape up and we have no evidence of them even trying. On the contrary.) As for that "trigger," isn't over 20,000 people dying each year because they cannot afford medical care a trigger enough?

BTW, one thing that came across clearly enough again is that for GOPers money is the only thing that matters. (It's awesome to be rich!) Rose tried several times to ask McCotter about the human and humane reasons for enacting the health care reform, and each time McCotter's responses were about money. Each time with that ironic smirk on his cucumbery face.

I don't know why I continue to be shocked by the GOPers evident lack of conscience and human feeling, but I am. I still hope to see some sign of a heart somewhere among them -- they can't all be psychopaths, can they? (File this question under the rhetorical rubric.)

After Rose, I went searching for others' informed opinions about the future of PO and found discouraging confirmations of Brooks et al's assessment. David Sirota, as usual, had a sobering take on Obama's speech, and I found this comment from Don McCanne, MD, on the Physicians for A National Health Program forum:

(...) the debate over the public option has been a very successful diversionary tactic on the part of the insurance industry. The real debate should have been over whether or not to replace the private insurance plans with a single public plan. The insurance industry won outright since we never had that debate.

Now everyone will have to buy a private plan with inadequate benefits (65-70% actuarial value), and unaffordable premiums, with inadequate subsidies, and with continuing unaffordable cost escalation. This will negatively impact middle-income individuals and families the most.

And our out? Those hardship waivers that will waive the fines we would face for committing the criminal act of being uninsured. And with time, more and more of us will qualify for them.

The progressives drew a line on the public option. Maybe now they should back up and draw the line on single payer. That could give us a fresh start on reform that works for the people instead of the insurers.

And Robert Borosage has this to say, among other things:

This president deserves a better opposition both on the right -- one willing to enter an adult conversation about how to solve the staggering challenges this country faces -- and on the left, one willing to push him hard for fundamental reform, and pressure those in both parties standing in the way. He is ill-served by the petty corruption and ideological venom of the right, and the docility of the left. If we are going to be able to overcome the entrenched corporate interests and lobbies that dole out money to conservatives in both parties, we will need a much more independent and aggressive progressive mobilization.

Conclusions:

1. Pundits love to hear themselves talk. For them, issues like the health care reform (or wars) are a political spectacle where they act as interested observers or gamblers putting their bets on certain outcomes and watching, sometimes with passion, sometimes without, whether their predictions "win." It's a game of sophisticated, but inhumane, one-upmanship. For the rest of us, it's a matter of life and death, literally. Sad that this is lost on the pundits, but not surprising, given their lot in life.

2. GOP consists of, by and large, psychopathically disturbed individuals, devoid of conscience and higher human feelings. (I remain open to revise this statement if and when I see a GOPer with even a minuscule evidence of a heart.)

3. PO is dying. It may be dead already, we are just not told about it to prevent excessive panic among progressives and retain the illusion of the President still yielding some bargaining power in shaping the reform process. So call/write/do what you have to do to keep it alive following the links above.

Cross-posted at The Middle of Nowhere.

STBU!

A man who has every right to have air-time.
Fine.
A man who abuses the airwaves with hate-speech and fear mongering.
Not so much.
A man who uses the airwaves to surely bring about ignorant violence.
NO!
So do something. Beck speaks for the hoodwinked.
Which are you?

Tell President Obama: Glenn Beck Doesn't "Speak" for Me (and tell Glenn to STBU)!

Chipotle CEO, get some integrity!

For decades, Florida's farmworkers have faced terrible abuses and brutal exploitation. Workers earn sub-poverty wages for toiling 60-70 hours per week, and some have even been chained to poles, locked inside trucks, beaten, and robbed of their pay.

Chipotle, the country's fastest-growing fast food chain, claims to serve "food with integrity." But the company has turned its back on farmworkers demanding a lasting commitment to ending the brutal exploitation in Florida's fields.

Tell Chipotle's CEO Steve Ells that it's time to stand up for real "food with integrity" and demand an end to horrific working conditions.

Take Action: Chipotle, how about some integrity for Florida's farmworkers?

OIL AND ICE?

TAKE ACTION!

Oil and Ice Don't Mix: Protect the Arctic Ocean

This Little Piggy - Trichinosis

Here's something I think you should watch.
But, I must caution you, although it is not graphic, per se,
It is revealing and might be deemed educational.
(Don't say I didn't warn you, okay?)

Danger: Eye protection required beyond this point!

View ONLY if you have insurance that WILL pay for the damages,
pre-existing and long-term!

our culture is sick

i have not been feeling well lately. don't know whether it's the change of seasons or if i have the swine flu- but i just feel 'under the weather.' and, that got me to thinkin' about health care and the state that it's in. i don't go to the doctor. i won't unless i have to. i used to go- and i used to take clients when they needed or wanted to go- and it's funny but we all got similar answers for our ailments. the clients always had asthma and i always had a virus. and my poor mother was prescribed every drug that has ever been recalled from the market.

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so, why should i bother to go? why should i plunk down $70 a visit to have them tell me to drink fluids and get plenty of rest? the folks with serious illnesses aren't so lucky. i don't know when the health profession turned corporate- perhaps with the rise of the insurance companies or maybe the hmos, but it is really indicative of a bigger problem in our culture. we really have stopped caring about each other.

i have the choice not to go to the doctor or hospital, but that doesn't mean i should take it away from someone else- and that medical care should be profit driven. i suppose it is pollyannish of me to believe that folks should be in the profession who genuinely want to save lives and not just make the big bucks. i don't know what it is going to take for americans to wake up and see the writing on the wall- our way of life doesn't work. perhaps for the entire system to collapse and for us to go back to local communities again. who knows?

Thousands help raise funds for wounded warriors

This is a good story about showing up to support the men and women we now call "Veteran" and well worth the read. What I want to point out is what a Vietnam Vet had to say about how glad he is "these kids are getting this."


Jim Reistroffer was sent to Vietnam. It cannot be more clear than that. He was sent. He did not say, "Hey why don't we go to Vietnam and fight a war." The nation decided that. While the rest of the people back home fought over the justification of it, his life was on the line. (READ MORE)

When you read how he was assigned to be a "clerk typist" that was the way it was in Vietnam. You had a job to do to support the structure and that was what your MOS, Military Occupational Specialty. That job could take a few hours a day to perform. The rest of the time, you were with everyone else, doing sweeps, pulling bunker guard duty and whatever else it took to stay alive. Imagine an occupation when part of your job is staying alive if you think you have a hard job to do. Adds a little stress. Doesn't it? Add in bombs and people trying to kill you and your friends. You never knew who was the enemy and who were your supporters among the locals.

Then imagine coming home and the same thing is going on. Instead of dodging bombs and bullets, you had to dodge the memories of them. When it came to your own people, again, you did not know who was the enemy any more than you knew who were your supporters. Even within your own family you'd hear them talk about how it was all a waste of time and money, while you were thinking of friends no longer here, because they died there. You kept quiet. No one considered anything beyond gut reactions into the fact that no one was coming up with any plans to "win" it. It was just allowed to go on and on as the lives were lost and limbs were blown off. You were a stranger in your own town. You were not the same. War changed you from civilian to veteran and you became a member of a minority group few others understood.

We wrote off the Vietnam veterans and wanted to forget all about all the years. We wanted to forget about the lives lost and about the wounded veterans. We told them to just get over it. We basically gave up on them. The truth is, no matter how badly they were treated, they didn't give up on us. They knew within their hearts that if they could help us to understand that combat veterans never really leave war all the way, we would do something about it. They still believed in us.

This faith in the American people did not end when monuments were built and they were suddenly invited to walk in parades. They fought to make sure the unseen wounds were tended to. They fought for treatment and compensation of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a plague every other generation suffered in silence with. They fought for all veterans knowing this price should never be forgotten or hidden.

While they remembered how badly they were treated, they are grateful this new generation is getting what they never did. As the VA and new service groups form using the latest technology to support them, the Vietnam veterans are yet again pushed back and forgotten about. The new groups don't want them in just as the older groups didn't want them in when they came home. Yet what do they do in return? They open their arms for all veterans and stand with them.

They join groups like the Patriot Guard Riders, Rolling Thunder, Vietnam Veterans of America, take the leadership rolls of the DAV, the VFW, the American Legion and Nam Knights, which was founded by a Vietnam veteran and law enforcement officer. They took on filling gaps in all aspects of society like the International Fellowship of Chaplains, founded by a Marine Vietnam veteran and law enforcement officer. Point Man Ministries also begun by a Vietnam veteran.

All they did ended up helping every single law enforcement and firefighter. They helped every civilian and most of us never even understand where this help came from. When it comes to surviving trauma, what we know as PTSD, any help we receive was because they fought for it. They lobbied congress for research and treatment as well as have it recognized as war born disability and be compensated for it. Because of them, there are a lot fewer veterans unable to work because of their service, abandoned by the nation who sent them. Think of how bad it would all be for the newer veterans had they not accomplished what they did and then think about the people across this nation without being treated after traumatic events in our own lives.

The next time there is a tornado or flood or hurricane and people show up to help, this is because of them. Crisis responders were born from their efforts. Trauma teams rushing to help were because of what they started. They came home and fought for themselves along with everyone else, including the people who took out their anger over Vietnam out on them.

They are still standing by the side of the people of this country while most of us still ignore all they did in spite of what we did not do for them.

Thousands help raise funds for wounded warriors
by Thomas Geyer

Jake and Hugh Pries sat with their families Saturday at Davenport's LeClaire Park waiting for the concert to raise funds for wounded warriors to begin.

Jake Pries already has served a tour of duty in Afghanistan with the Army National Guard 834 Combat Engineers. His father, Hugh, a retired Army colonel, served a year in Iraq in 2007-2008 when he was all of 59.

"We're here to listen to good music and support the troops," Hugh Pries said.

"There was no way we weren't going to show up for this," Jake Pries said.

Both appreciated the fact that contemporary Christian singer and songwriter Michael W. Smith was on the headline.

"I've listened to him on the radio," Jake Pries said.

More than 6,000 people, nearly all packing lawn chairs and quilts were estimated to have gone through the gates for the concert.

For Jim Reistroffer, of Davenport, the night was special in another way. He served in the Army during Vietnam. He was sent over in 1967 and spent 18 months in country.

When he came home, it was a completely different atmosphere. He wanted to get his uniform off as fast as he could for his own protection.

"I went over as a clerk-typist, and they assigned me to a gunship," he said. "When I came home, we didn't have anything like this. Nobody supported us. We were spit on and called baby killers.

"I'm happy these kids are getting this."

read more here

Thousands help raise funds for wounded warriors

Rupert Murdoch and Saudi Media? Via Palestinian Mothers

It seems that the Western media is after Arab media platforms, or are they only after the deep Arab pockets? People in the Middle East are still in a state of shock after last week’s Yahoo business venture of buying Maktoob.com, the only Arab internet portal based in Jordan. (Please visit Palestinian Mothers to read the rest...)

Just Check Your Fourth Amendment Rights at the Border

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit last month against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP's policy allows them to search travelers' laptops--with NO suspicion of wrongdoing required! The ACLU would like more information about that. So would I.

It seems the CBP claims they have the right to read information on travelers' laptops "absent individualized suspicion." That allows them access to all files saved on anyone's laptop: personal financial information, photographs, histories of Web sites visited--everything. They don't need any reason--or even any suspicion to believe that a traveler has broken the law!

What's more, they're also asserting their right to search "documents, books, pamphlets and other printed material, as well as computers, disks, hard drives and other electronic or digital storage devices." [Note to self: Yikes, even my iTouch?]

And, by the way, don't think your U.S. birth certificate will protect you. This policy includes everyone crossing the border, whether or not they're U.S. citizens.

We're used to customs offices in the U.S. and other countries inspecting goods being brought into the nation. But it is a radical new step for the government to claim that it can also inspect the information being brought across our borders.

From the ACLU blog:

"In a DHS press release, Secretary Janet Napolitano said:

‘Keeping Americans safe in an increasingly digital world depends on our ability to lawfully screen materials entering the United States.'

Clearly, by "materials," CBP now means electronic data as well as physical materials."

The damage to our personal privacy is profound. However, the assistance to the country's security is minimal. Because, the ACLU notes: Who is inspecting of all the data that enters the U.S. via the internet?

Therefore, says the ACLU blog:

Clearly this policy really has nothing to do with "securing the borders" of the United States in the sense of CBP's right to search and seize for contraband goods. Rather, it is about giving border agents sweeping new powers to peer into the lives and invade the privacy of individuals crossing the border.

So, US citizens, until this gets straightened out, you can check your rights to privacy at the border on your way in. And don't expect a claim check. It could be that your coat at a banquet is worth more than your privacy is worth at the border.

Afghanistan

Welp, it looks like more and more Dems are coming around to Senator Russ Feingold's point of view on Afghanistan. And none too soon, given the recent news of rowdy fratboy misbehaviour by U.S. citizens in this deeply conservative Islamic nation.

What the hell are we doing in Afghanistan, anyway? It's a pointless war. The idea was to go in, get bin Laden and whoever else is in charge in al-Qaeda, and get the fuck out. But now, General Stanley McChrystal, top American commander in Afghanistan, is asking for more U.S. troops. And NATO is purportedly planning to increase its commitment to Afghanistan, according to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secretary-general of NATO. "As long as it takes," says Rasmussen. As long as WHAT takes, sir? What are you hoping to accomplish?

Afghanistan is a pathetically poor nation, historically torn by fighting. Everyone seems to want a piece of that poverty-stricken land, beginning with Sikandar (Alexander the Great to you Greco-Romanists), and moving through Britain and Russia to the United States, and now an alliance of Western powers fronted by NATO. So far, no one's had much luck winning a war there. The British gave up after multiple defeats. The defeat of the Russians occurred within our own lifetimes. And now the US/NATO Coalition of Teh Stupid is getting ground to dust.

Clausewitz has this, among other things, to say about war:

War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.

Given that Clausewitz is somewhat of an authority on war, it would behoove both NATO and the US to remember that. And what are the politics of Afghanistan?

Historically, Afghanistan has been a land of warring tribes, fierce and intransigent, deeply committed to a harsh version of the Muslim faith it adopted circa 650 AD. United for a little over a century into a kingdom comprising multiple dynasties and tribal alliances, these tribes have long resisted any semblance of comity, being more likely to invest their energies in settling grievances with each other by whatever means and having long since grown adept at manipulating foreigners against each other for their own survival and vengeance.

Thus, the question restates itself: What are the political aims of the U.S. and NATO in Afghanistan? Uniting the country? That seems laughable. There is no "country of Afghanistan," only a series of tribes that have fought each other for hundreds, possibly thousands, of years and will continue to fight each other long after the latest in a series of invaders has been crushed into exhaustion by the hostile climate, terrain, and natives. (READ MORE)

Alleviating the lot of the natives? Well, war is the worst possible way to go about that. We appear to be killing lots of innocent, and possibly also not-so-innocent, civilians. In the event, a country torn by war, poverty, corruption, crime, and suffering does not allow democracy to take root in its bitter soil. Democracy requires the active participation of informed people. The people of Afghanistan are too busy fleeing bombs, being killed and maimed, and attempting to stay alive to spend time gathering information. And our presence there, far from alleviating their lot, is killing them.



It doesn't help to have the examples of other failed wars in Asia: Japan's war in China, and the U.S. involvement in Korea, and VietNam. To quote Bernard Viscount Montgomery,

[...] Rule 2 of war [...] is: "Do not go fighting with your land armies in China". It is a vast country, with no clearly defined objectives.
In the House of Lords, 30 May 1962 (Hansard, Col. 227)

And subsequently, upon the involvement of the U.S. in the VietNam conflict:

The US has broken the second rule of war. That is, don't go fighting with your land army on the mainland of Asia. [...]

As is always the case, corruption is rife in a land torn by war. No one seems to care about what the Afghanis themselves think about the Taliban, or the puppet dictator, Hamid Karzai, that we have foisted on them.

What exactly are we hoping to achieve in Afghanistan? Because if our aim is to ensure that natural gas flows from the rich fields around the Caspian Sea to ports where it can be transhipped to countries hungry for this rich natural resource, then perhaps we ought to be less hypocritical about it and either sterilize the entire nation of its inhabitants, or just buy it outright and pay the Afghanis to settle elsewhere.

Inhumane, you say? Of course it's inhumane. But how humane is it to prop up a corrupt, American-owned dictator who watches and pockets our riches anyway even as little girls and boys have their arms and legs blown off?

This is a problem that requires a political, not a military solution. So far, 21,000 troops have been sent there to fight and kill and be killed.

Photo by Julie Jacobson, AP

No more. Let's bring them home, people. Supporting the troops means not using them in the Gee, Dumb? Yeah! war of convenience. The Afghanis don't want us there. They want us to give them the training to become adept at defending themselves and then get the fuck out. What the fuck are we waiting for?

Crossposted over at ThePoliticalCat