29 November 2006
The problem with the Dear and Glorious Leader is that he's a prick
It seems that simple dinner party courtesy is beyond him.
28 November 2006
We sorta don't live in a science fiction universe
I've never read a science fiction story where there were so many dwarf stars in the immediate neighborhood of the earth. I wish I could think of a neat, Asimov-esque plot to make use of them.
Th question is not "Can a Mormon be President?". The question is "How on earth do they plan to explain Mormonism and not get run out of the country?"
Mitt Romney is a Mormon. If he believes in the things that the LDS teaches, then he is batshit insane.
Am I the only one who thinks it is complete and utter madness for the GOP to even consider someone who beleives that God has a physical body and lives on a planet orbiting the star Kobol? Someone who believes that you have to wear magic underwear all the time? Someone who believed, until 1978, that black were not fully human? Someone who beleives that the American Indians were descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel? Someone who beleives that God visits his office in Salt Lake City to talk to the LDS leaders from time to time? Joshua Crust.
LDS teaches those things. Teaches them as truth. Do not let this sort of lunatic enter into the public discourse.
Also, don't remind me that Harry Reid is a Mormon, too. I'm just trying to block that out of my mind.
Am I the only one who thinks it is complete and utter madness for the GOP to even consider someone who beleives that God has a physical body and lives on a planet orbiting the star Kobol? Someone who believes that you have to wear magic underwear all the time? Someone who believed, until 1978, that black were not fully human? Someone who beleives that the American Indians were descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel? Someone who beleives that God visits his office in Salt Lake City to talk to the LDS leaders from time to time? Joshua Crust.
LDS teaches those things. Teaches them as truth. Do not let this sort of lunatic enter into the public discourse.
Also, don't remind me that Harry Reid is a Mormon, too. I'm just trying to block that out of my mind.
My part in an experiment
It seems that Acephalous is attempting to measure the propogation rate of the web. I link to his site and ask my readers who blog to do the same and he tracks the results through Technocrati. so, if you want to play, link to http://acephalous.typepad.com/acephalous/2006/11/measuring_the_s.html.
This has been a public service announcement.
This has been a public service announcement.
Looks like faithful coach driver Netley to me
It seems that some Brits have cobbled up a recreation of the face of the Ripper. Feh. Seems to be aimed at drumming up rating for a British teevee show. I don't seem to recall any eye witnesses whom it could determined had actually seen the murderer.
But, I'm sure our local Ripperologist will chime in momentarily with the facts.
But, I'm sure our local Ripperologist will chime in momentarily with the facts.
Y'know that famous statue of the she-wolf and the twins?
Seems that it isn't Etruscan after all. Gosh.
27 November 2006
Education and the achievement gap
This article* confirms what my intuition has told me for the last 20-something years: the problem is that kids in poverty are given a different kind of upbringing. It also suggests that anything we do to eliminate the achivement gap will make it worse: our best methods will work best with those children who already have the foundations for learning. It's like what Goethe said about good teaching: it only works on those who don't need it.
Colleges of education foster the idea that the problems are insurmountable; I've seen this and heard it first hand. Serious research, with real mathematics and real neurobiology scares the bejeezus out of education academics. They don't want simple answers that are pointed to by numbers. They will reject it out of hand as "simplistic" or "unrealistic." And, yes, I meant for those quote marks to be interpreted literally. Education academics are the academy's most insecure members. Mostly because they know that they are pretty much frauds. They know *nothing* about how learning takes place and they can't understand the statistics that show them what's happening. All their papers quote the papers of other education academics and so they engage in tail-chasing and thesis padding.
In my many years of association with public educaiton, I've seen innumerable "programs" put in place that, in the end, only accomplished the enrichment of the program creator. *Nothing* works for every kid. *Nothing* works at every site. *Nothing* will be implemented the same at a different location, at a different time, by different people. The variables tend to swamp the data, obscuring the real information.
We need to rely on neurologists, anthropologists, and statisticians to tell us what happens when kids learn and what the real influcences are. Then we can create schools that might be able to reach the broad base of the student population.
*Oh, the link to the article may require a password. You can steal one at www.bugmenot.com.
Colleges of education foster the idea that the problems are insurmountable; I've seen this and heard it first hand. Serious research, with real mathematics and real neurobiology scares the bejeezus out of education academics. They don't want simple answers that are pointed to by numbers. They will reject it out of hand as "simplistic" or "unrealistic." And, yes, I meant for those quote marks to be interpreted literally. Education academics are the academy's most insecure members. Mostly because they know that they are pretty much frauds. They know *nothing* about how learning takes place and they can't understand the statistics that show them what's happening. All their papers quote the papers of other education academics and so they engage in tail-chasing and thesis padding.
In my many years of association with public educaiton, I've seen innumerable "programs" put in place that, in the end, only accomplished the enrichment of the program creator. *Nothing* works for every kid. *Nothing* works at every site. *Nothing* will be implemented the same at a different location, at a different time, by different people. The variables tend to swamp the data, obscuring the real information.
We need to rely on neurologists, anthropologists, and statisticians to tell us what happens when kids learn and what the real influcences are. Then we can create schools that might be able to reach the broad base of the student population.
*Oh, the link to the article may require a password. You can steal one at www.bugmenot.com.
25 November 2006
22 November 2006
We live in a science fiction universe -- Part 43,715
Greg and Chuck probably know all about this stuff. Greg probably has a couple of new game machines but this is pretty close to the "data glove" that I want to operate my PC with.
Not all cultures are of equal value, particularly Ethiopian culture
This is lunatic. Do they not know where baby lions come from?
On the other hand, I suspect that the zoo is not accredited by any international zoo accrediting outfits so no real zoo in the West can/will take the cubs from them.
On the other hand, I suspect that the zoo is not accredited by any international zoo accrediting outfits so no real zoo in the West can/will take the cubs from them.
Arming the Iraqis as little as possible
Never forget that the war is for the purposes of the war profiteers.
But there are also good tactical and strategic reasons for not giving the Iraqis a lot of modern weapons and some of them are alluded to in the article. But mostly, the level of corruption that exists in Iraq, like the 3rd world hellhole it is, is such that if we weren't arming them with weapons that they don't want, a good portion of the weapons would wind up in the hands of the militias. Those are the militias that we refuse to dis-arm because it would require a much larger occupation force and heavy casualties for a few days.
Mind you, I'm not being callous about the loss of American lives in Iraq. But I believe that, in the long run, it would save more lives to dis-arm the militias and put guys like Muqtada al-Sadr out of the private army business.
But there are also good tactical and strategic reasons for not giving the Iraqis a lot of modern weapons and some of them are alluded to in the article. But mostly, the level of corruption that exists in Iraq, like the 3rd world hellhole it is, is such that if we weren't arming them with weapons that they don't want, a good portion of the weapons would wind up in the hands of the militias. Those are the militias that we refuse to dis-arm because it would require a much larger occupation force and heavy casualties for a few days.
Mind you, I'm not being callous about the loss of American lives in Iraq. But I believe that, in the long run, it would save more lives to dis-arm the militias and put guys like Muqtada al-Sadr out of the private army business.
What one of those sorta decent conservatives has to say
It seems that Paul Craig Roberts can see the administration of the Dear and Glorious Leader for what it is: a fascisitic police state.
ITMFA
ITMFA
Houston janitors settle strike
So they get a 68% raise in hourly pay, a 33% increase in the number of hours they work, and they'll still be taking home less money if they take the health insurance.
But they'll have health insurance, which is something. Of course, if they take the family health insurance option, they'll go broke. How do employers justify this kind of shit? Do they go home and look at their kids and think, "Boy, I'm glad I'm not a janitor,"?
It will be this kind of chicanery that will eventually get us decent health care that we can all afford because we'll all be helping to pay for it, like decent, compassionate human beings. Y'know, like the kind of people Jesus said we should be?
But they'll have health insurance, which is something. Of course, if they take the family health insurance option, they'll go broke. How do employers justify this kind of shit? Do they go home and look at their kids and think, "Boy, I'm glad I'm not a janitor,"?
It will be this kind of chicanery that will eventually get us decent health care that we can all afford because we'll all be helping to pay for it, like decent, compassionate human beings. Y'know, like the kind of people Jesus said we should be?
Conyers's single-payer health care system won't pass anytime soon
But the time will come. And it will be the first step in actually reforming the economy of the US.
Other than the lack of profits for insurance companies, why would anybody oppose this?
Other than the lack of profits for insurance companies, why would anybody oppose this?
Justice is suing Maine for trying to enforce Maine state law
It seems that the Justice Department can't read the Constitution. But, that comes as no surprise. I encourage everyone to write a letter to your telephone provider and ask if they are cooperating with the NSA on electronic eavesdropping. And then follow the course of Mr. Cowie and sue in state court. I plan to write Cingular today.
When it stats hitting their pocketbooks, they pay attention
Do you know how hard it was to find a translation of this LeMonde article?
Anyway, macroeconomists are including climate data in their models and saying that we are doomed. If there is a 30% drop in agricultural production in the Sahel, millions of people will starve to death. I talking about so many that the living won't be able to bury them all. Oog, as they say in the Okeefenokee.
Anyway, macroeconomists are including climate data in their models and saying that we are doomed. If there is a 30% drop in agricultural production in the Sahel, millions of people will starve to death. I talking about so many that the living won't be able to bury them all. Oog, as they say in the Okeefenokee.
The 9-11 evacuation of the Saudis
I love it when the worm turns. The administration of the Dear and Glorious Leader is going to have to explain what happened and why in regard to the evacuation of the Saudi royal family and the bin Ladens in the US on 9-11. Very sweet.
I am shocked -- shocked -- to find that this Administration would ignore science
It seems, no matter how astonishing you may find it, that the administration of the Dear and Glorious Leader hasn't checked the science of their absitenance-only sex ed programs.
I've said it before, almost as bad as their rape of the Constitution is their denegration of science.
I've said it before, almost as bad as their rape of the Constitution is their denegration of science.
Remember, remember 22 November...
...with gunpowder, treason, and plot.
I know no reason why 22 November
Should ever be forgot.
If one exams the evidence in the assassination of JFK as an historian, evaluating the evidence and being taken by that evidence to a conclusion, one must conclude that JFK's murder was accomplished by a conspiracy and there was a conspiracy to occlude the facts of the case. Note that those do not have to be the same conspiracy and may overlap very, very little.
By the evidence, I mean, not the report of the Warren Commission or the report of the House Committee but the actual documents that they used. Examination of the documentary evidence strongly indicates that Lee Oswald was an agent of Naval Intelligence, sent to the Soviet Union as a false defector. The evidence demands that at least 4 shots were fired at the presidential limousine, which precludes the use of the weapon that Oswald was alleged to have used. The evidence is incontrovertible that the CIA concealed their knowledge of Oswald's alleged visits to the Soviet and Cuban embassys in Mexico City -- the Agency states that straight out -- and supplied false information regarding those visits to the Warren Commission. The evidence is incontrovertible that the FBI did not report credible threats on the life of the president in the weeks leading up to 22 November 1963 to the Secret Service, as they were required to do by Bureau policy and by law.
These facts alone lead the open-minded to conclude that there was at least one, and probably two, conspiracies.
The number of people who have examined the evidence and concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin is vanishingly small. Clearly, somebody was lying about something.
It doesn't require an enormous conspiracy and the cover-up of Oswald's intelligence connections doesn't even require much in the way of malicious intent, just your usual bureaucratic urge to cover the collective asses. Would you want it bandied around that your intelligence operative was involved somehow in killing the president? No. The FBI's role is a lot more sinister but, again, that is quite possibly just a product of Hoover's hatred of the Kennedys and his own personality.
The JFK assassination does not have to be a mirror held up to American society. You do not have to draw grand theories of murderous cabals masterminding the fate of America for fun and profit. You do not have to envision scores of operatives carrying out a plan of intricate detail. You just have to look at the evidence for yourself and draw your own conclusions. But you must look at the original documentary evidence, not the sanitized, twisted, contextualized versions that are attempting to sell you a pig in a poke. And you have to play historian: evaluate the evidence.
Which is more likely to have a kernel of truth, a first day interview with a witness or that witnesses testimony, 4 months later? Do you accept the evidence of physics or the assumption of an investigator? If an official military record says one thing and a Warren Commission investigator tells you something different, who do you think is more credible? If every Selective Service card you can locate (and the statements of everybody that ever carried one) shows that SS cards did not have photographs on them and you are shown Oswald's card and it has a picture on it and that photograph is the same one that appears on his Soviet internal passport but that picture was made at a portrait studio in Dallas after Oswald's return from Russia, what do you conclude about the card and the passport, that they were authentic?
I could go on and on and on about the evidence and will if there is an interest on the part of readers of this blog. But never forget 22 November.
I know no reason why 22 November
Should ever be forgot.
If one exams the evidence in the assassination of JFK as an historian, evaluating the evidence and being taken by that evidence to a conclusion, one must conclude that JFK's murder was accomplished by a conspiracy and there was a conspiracy to occlude the facts of the case. Note that those do not have to be the same conspiracy and may overlap very, very little.
By the evidence, I mean, not the report of the Warren Commission or the report of the House Committee but the actual documents that they used. Examination of the documentary evidence strongly indicates that Lee Oswald was an agent of Naval Intelligence, sent to the Soviet Union as a false defector. The evidence demands that at least 4 shots were fired at the presidential limousine, which precludes the use of the weapon that Oswald was alleged to have used. The evidence is incontrovertible that the CIA concealed their knowledge of Oswald's alleged visits to the Soviet and Cuban embassys in Mexico City -- the Agency states that straight out -- and supplied false information regarding those visits to the Warren Commission. The evidence is incontrovertible that the FBI did not report credible threats on the life of the president in the weeks leading up to 22 November 1963 to the Secret Service, as they were required to do by Bureau policy and by law.
These facts alone lead the open-minded to conclude that there was at least one, and probably two, conspiracies.
The number of people who have examined the evidence and concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin is vanishingly small. Clearly, somebody was lying about something.
It doesn't require an enormous conspiracy and the cover-up of Oswald's intelligence connections doesn't even require much in the way of malicious intent, just your usual bureaucratic urge to cover the collective asses. Would you want it bandied around that your intelligence operative was involved somehow in killing the president? No. The FBI's role is a lot more sinister but, again, that is quite possibly just a product of Hoover's hatred of the Kennedys and his own personality.
The JFK assassination does not have to be a mirror held up to American society. You do not have to draw grand theories of murderous cabals masterminding the fate of America for fun and profit. You do not have to envision scores of operatives carrying out a plan of intricate detail. You just have to look at the evidence for yourself and draw your own conclusions. But you must look at the original documentary evidence, not the sanitized, twisted, contextualized versions that are attempting to sell you a pig in a poke. And you have to play historian: evaluate the evidence.
Which is more likely to have a kernel of truth, a first day interview with a witness or that witnesses testimony, 4 months later? Do you accept the evidence of physics or the assumption of an investigator? If an official military record says one thing and a Warren Commission investigator tells you something different, who do you think is more credible? If every Selective Service card you can locate (and the statements of everybody that ever carried one) shows that SS cards did not have photographs on them and you are shown Oswald's card and it has a picture on it and that photograph is the same one that appears on his Soviet internal passport but that picture was made at a portrait studio in Dallas after Oswald's return from Russia, what do you conclude about the card and the passport, that they were authentic?
I could go on and on and on about the evidence and will if there is an interest on the part of readers of this blog. But never forget 22 November.
21 November 2006
Iraqi pipeline to Turkey "useless"
So it seems that the famous oil fields of Kirkuk are now unavailable to anybody. Can anybody tell me anything that has gone right in this escapade? Well, okay, Saddam was overthrown and, in a perfect world, that would be a good thing. Of course, some American company is eventually going to get the contract to rebuild this pipeline so money will be made by rich Americans and that is the point of US foreign policy at present so I guess it's not so bad.
ITMFA
ITMFA
17 November 2006
Top under-reported stories of the year
This is always an interesting list. I don't think any of this was completely new to me. God bless the internet.
16 November 2006
Little Rock Zoo
Here's another picture of the Little Rock Zoo's first baby gorilla. This would also be a good time to contribute to the Zoo, even if you don't live in Little Rock and have never visited.I'm getting over my zoo ethics problems. I've considered zoo's as conservation efforts and when you think about the state of the habitats of lowland gorillas, it's a pretty good idea that we have some and that we're taking care of them. Gorillas, I mean.
Day Break
I don't know from pop culture. My daugher had to tell me who Taye Diggs is.
But.
Despite some pretty awful dialog and some "wild-eyed animal" acting I found the central conceit of this show to be compelling. I watched with a little smile on my face because I knew that the details we were being shown in every shot were going to be coming up over and over for the rest of the series. I must say that the police hq has the biggest damned elevator I've ever seen and I don't see how people can stand it being lit from the bottom.
And if Detective Hopper continues to keep his injuries from the previous "day" when he wakes up every morning, there's probably not going to be a whole helluva lot of his left at the end of the series. He's taking beatings and getting shot and it doesn't go away when he has to start over. Which will probably be a big clue in the "uber-mystery" of how in the hell this can be happening.
Oh, and it made for two "Firefly" alumni in two weeks on ABC.
Last night's premiere episode can be watched at ABC's website.
But.
Despite some pretty awful dialog and some "wild-eyed animal" acting I found the central conceit of this show to be compelling. I watched with a little smile on my face because I knew that the details we were being shown in every shot were going to be coming up over and over for the rest of the series. I must say that the police hq has the biggest damned elevator I've ever seen and I don't see how people can stand it being lit from the bottom.
And if Detective Hopper continues to keep his injuries from the previous "day" when he wakes up every morning, there's probably not going to be a whole helluva lot of his left at the end of the series. He's taking beatings and getting shot and it doesn't go away when he has to start over. Which will probably be a big clue in the "uber-mystery" of how in the hell this can be happening.
Oh, and it made for two "Firefly" alumni in two weeks on ABC.
Last night's premiere episode can be watched at ABC's website.
Torture memoes
I've long maintained that, like them or not, the professionals in the intelligence community are vital to our political process. They can keep the executive honest.
And it seems that they are stepping up to the plate. Not swinging, mind you, just making sure that the President knows that they hold a memo that can end his presidency.
Impeach the mother-fucker already.
And it seems that they are stepping up to the plate. Not swinging, mind you, just making sure that the President knows that they hold a memo that can end his presidency.
Impeach the mother-fucker already.
15 November 2006
Why is impeachment "off the table"?
Pelosi and Reid have said that they are not going to impeach the Dear and Glorious Leader. It seems to me that if they are going to be faithful to their own oaths of office, they are forced to it.
I mean, look at this. Here we have the agents of the President saying that they will violate the Constitution as they see fit. This is the very sort of stuff that we fought the Revolution against.
Mind you, this isn't exactly what impeachment was designed for because it never occurred to the Founders that a President would attempt to usurp the perogatives and powers of the other branches and would publically proclaim that the Constitution was irrelevant. And brag about it. They just thought that they would need to have a way to remove a bad President.
It would be hard to get articles of impeachment approved by the House without Pelosi's cooperation. Now, once the articles were approved by the House, Reid doesn't have the power to stop a Senate trial. I think I'm going to count on my boy Dennis Kucinich to start a'howlin'.
I mean, look at this. Here we have the agents of the President saying that they will violate the Constitution as they see fit. This is the very sort of stuff that we fought the Revolution against.
Mind you, this isn't exactly what impeachment was designed for because it never occurred to the Founders that a President would attempt to usurp the perogatives and powers of the other branches and would publically proclaim that the Constitution was irrelevant. And brag about it. They just thought that they would need to have a way to remove a bad President.
It would be hard to get articles of impeachment approved by the House without Pelosi's cooperation. Now, once the articles were approved by the House, Reid doesn't have the power to stop a Senate trial. I think I'm going to count on my boy Dennis Kucinich to start a'howlin'.
What will the Democrats do for the environment?
10 November 2006
No such thing as vampires?
And we're supposed to believe that coming from a guy named "Costas Efthimiou"? How vampiric does a name have to be before it's a give-away?
Excuse-a me while I speak-a da-comics
Alan Moore is going to be on an episode of "The Simpsons." I'm already giggling.
09 November 2006
Tillman's death was just one out of thousands...
...and yet it makes a terribly interesting story and can probably be used as a micro-study of how the propaganda war works.
08 November 2006
Know anything about longlining?
It's just one more those ridiculously vile things we do in order to make lots and lots of money.
Did you know that a big tuna can bring as much as $60,000 American in Japan? Why would anybody be willing to pay $60,000 for a fish? That's just so monumentally stupid that I can't even begin to understand it.
Did you know that a big tuna can bring as much as $60,000 American in Japan? Why would anybody be willing to pay $60,000 for a fish? That's just so monumentally stupid that I can't even begin to understand it.
07 November 2006
Bush's contribution to nuclear proliferation
You recall that last week the administration posted a-bomb making plans in Arabic because they didn't know what it was, don't you? Did you know that immediately thereafter, 6 Arab countries announced they were going to develop a bomb? Why aren't we down at the courthouse, with torches and pitchforks?
Read this.
Read this.
06 November 2006
02 November 2006
Watch my tongue turn to ashes as I say, "Pat Buchanon is right."
This is Buchanon's latest isolationist editorial. And he's right. Every word. Sigh.
It's a pretty revolting torture technique when it makes somebody watching it commit suicide
Suicides have always been a part of the military but, naturally, they are downplayed or concealed. Makes you proud to be an American, don't it?
01 November 2006
Let's make "war profiteer" an ugly name again
During the Civil War and WWI, you could start a fight with somebody by calling them a "war profiteer." It seemed more than indecent to make a profit from war; it seemed evil. Wicked. Sinful.
WWII? Not so much.
And after WWII? Why, making a profit from war became the American Way. And need I point out that the only goddamned things we make anymore are weapons?
The GOP and their christian posturing should take a long hard look at how Christ-like it is to make money from things that kill people.
Oh, here's an article that doesn't go far enough.
WWII? Not so much.
And after WWII? Why, making a profit from war became the American Way. And need I point out that the only goddamned things we make anymore are weapons?
The GOP and their christian posturing should take a long hard look at how Christ-like it is to make money from things that kill people.
Oh, here's an article that doesn't go far enough.
National Defense Authorization Act of 2007
If you want to read the damn thing, it's here.
As you are probably aware, the military has to be re-authorized biennially. Except for the Navy, which is different. The language in the Constitution is different: Congress can raise an army but it can't keep it for more than two years. The Navy doesn't have that stipulation. The implication is that the Founders could easily envision not having an army but we had to have unfettered access to Europe, therefore, a navy.
Anyway. That's what this is: the every-two-years re-authorization of the army (and air force).
It is also the blueprint for the end of democracy and the permanent ascendancy of the Dear Leader and the Lesser Leader.
Buried deep, in a bill signed without a ceremony, is the following:
"(a) Use of Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies- (1) The President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to--
So. We've given the president the authority to use the military of the United States against US citizens without the approval of the governor or legislature of the state where they will be deployed. Read the part about the National Guard again -- he can take command of the National Guard away from the governor without permission. This is all new.
Plus there's $500,000 authorized as organizational money for this sort of use.
Did you know that the US Army Corps of Engineers awarded Kellogg, Brown and Root (a Halliburton subsidiary) a contract worth $385 million to build detention centers in the US? Detention centers? Y'know, for "an emergency influx of immigrants, or to support the rapid development of new programs" (emphasis is mine). How do you think they plan to get people in those detention centers (which, by the way, have secret locations)? I don't think they plan to use INS. The "black prisons" in Europe have gotten a little press but it turns out that we're building secret prisons in the US. Let me say that again: WE ARE BUILDING SECRET PRISONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
And we torture prisoners.
And the president can name anybody he wants an enemy combatant.
And enemy combatants are denied any legal redress. They are prisoners at the whim of the president.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not wild-eyed conspiracy stuff. This is not lunatic ravings. These are just simple, documented facts. It all suggests to me that they do not plan to give up power. Ever.
Are you prepared to do your duty? Are you prepared to take the same oath that President Bush and Vice-President Chaney took: "I do solemly swear that I will . . . to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”?
Don't forget Father Niemoller:
When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews, I did not speak out; I was not a Jew.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.
Don't forget Thomas Jefferson:
From time to time the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of tyrrants and patriots.
As you are probably aware, the military has to be re-authorized biennially. Except for the Navy, which is different. The language in the Constitution is different: Congress can raise an army but it can't keep it for more than two years. The Navy doesn't have that stipulation. The implication is that the Founders could easily envision not having an army but we had to have unfettered access to Europe, therefore, a navy.
Anyway. That's what this is: the every-two-years re-authorization of the army (and air force).
It is also the blueprint for the end of democracy and the permanent ascendancy of the Dear Leader and the Lesser Leader.
Buried deep, in a bill signed without a ceremony, is the following:
"(a) Use of Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies- (1) The President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to--
- `(A) restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that--
- `(i) domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order; and
- `(ii) such violence results in a condition described in paragraph (2); or
- `(B) suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if such insurrection, violation, combination, or conspiracy results in a condition described in paragraph (2).
- `(2) A condition described in this paragraph is a condition that--
- `(A) so hinders the execution of the laws of a State or possession, as applicable, and of the United States within that State or possession, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State or possession are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or
- `(B) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.
- `(3) In any situation covered by paragraph (1)(B), the State shall be considered to have denied the equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution."
So. We've given the president the authority to use the military of the United States against US citizens without the approval of the governor or legislature of the state where they will be deployed. Read the part about the National Guard again -- he can take command of the National Guard away from the governor without permission. This is all new.
Plus there's $500,000 authorized as organizational money for this sort of use.
Did you know that the US Army Corps of Engineers awarded Kellogg, Brown and Root (a Halliburton subsidiary) a contract worth $385 million to build detention centers in the US? Detention centers? Y'know, for "an emergency influx of immigrants, or to support the rapid development of new programs" (emphasis is mine). How do you think they plan to get people in those detention centers (which, by the way, have secret locations)? I don't think they plan to use INS. The "black prisons" in Europe have gotten a little press but it turns out that we're building secret prisons in the US. Let me say that again: WE ARE BUILDING SECRET PRISONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
And we torture prisoners.
And the president can name anybody he wants an enemy combatant.
And enemy combatants are denied any legal redress. They are prisoners at the whim of the president.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not wild-eyed conspiracy stuff. This is not lunatic ravings. These are just simple, documented facts. It all suggests to me that they do not plan to give up power. Ever.
Are you prepared to do your duty? Are you prepared to take the same oath that President Bush and Vice-President Chaney took: "I do solemly swear that I will . . . to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”?
Don't forget Father Niemoller:
When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews, I did not speak out; I was not a Jew.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.
Don't forget Thomas Jefferson:
From time to time the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of tyrrants and patriots.
I try not to think about the looming economic/financial crisis
Partly because I don't know enough economics to make cogent conversation. Partly because it scares the shit out of me.
This guy isn't a great writer. His article meanders a lot. But he tries.
Oh, and his concluding remarks aren't very well developed. OPEC is trying to move to denominating oil in euros.
Doom-ed.
This guy isn't a great writer. His article meanders a lot. But he tries.
Oh, and his concluding remarks aren't very well developed. OPEC is trying to move to denominating oil in euros.
Doom-ed.
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