First an admission: I pirated this little but of poetry from Sam's site. Think about it, it could be that we just need a Marine in charge...
God give us men. The time demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and willing hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And dam his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking.
--Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819–1881)
The White House's Press Secretary evidently couldn't fool the White House Press Corp today when he suggested that not only was the State Department not "buying" votes from Mexico and Columbia for a variety of trade and immigration issues, but that there was something wrong with the very idea...when we have spent well over $28 billion buying the assistance from Turkey for the coming war, and defense officials have been instructed to "punish" Germany for her intransigence over the Security Council vote.
Strangely, it could be conceived that the Press Corps finally grew a spine, and laughed poor Ari from the room. Check it out here at CSPAN. I'm sure the Republicans will have a different spin.
So, if Iraq has become such a burning issue only because of its perceived ties to terrorists and weapons programs since Sept. 11, 2001, why did our Secretary of Defense and one of his chief deputies start lobbying to invade Iraq in 1998?
Some days I wonder if George Walker Bush, President of the United States, has ever been honest about anything in his entire life. Over the past week, he's cited and economic report that doesn't exist to support his economic plan and conveniently misinterpreted last week's statement by Ossama bin Laden to make it appear that he was in league with Iraq.
And this is just the new stuff. It leaves uot all the well-documented lies, innuendos, and mis-statements of the past three years. And yet, he continues to get a pass from the media....
Check out this great article about the Bush Administrations continuing assault on the Constitution.
Two more examples of how the people in power operate: The GAO dropped their lawsuit against the Vice President because their budget was going to be slashed if they didn't, and the Scretary of Defense is launching his own little economic war against Germany for not mildly acquiesing to our demands. Yep, these guys believe in democratic principles.
In another bit of bad-timing and an example of how the Bush Administration really sees the military, the President has announced a "plan" reducing the amount of Federal money given to local school systems that military dependents attend if they live of base.
First, a bit about me, so you get my point of view: I was an Air Force dependent pretty much until I graduated from college at the now-infamous University of South Florida. Most of that time we lived off-base in rented houses and the like, just like most dependents. However, a few times we lived on base, and I went to school off-base...like when we lived in Hawaii. the schools get a significant portion of their budgets from the $7,500 per student the Feds send them. Students that live off base are compensated for a little differently -- the schools only get $700 hundred per student, based on the idea that the parents of those students pay property taxes to support the schools.
Yeah, right.
The President wants to cut all Federal aid for the off-base students, which cuts a whopping $125 million from the budget. So, let's see, that's two new F-15 fighters, 4 F-16s, 3 M-1 Abrams tanks, or the education of every military dependent who lives off-base. Somwhow, I think the education is a better investment.
Even the premise this idea is based on is flawed. Property taxes are only paid by people who buy their homes, and while a fair number of military families do this, low wages, constant moves, and other issues can keep this from happening, which means that the schools get little or no taxes to help off-set the cost of education the dependents of our soldiers, sailors, and marines.
It's only fair that the government ensure that these kids get a good education as a form of recompense for the drawbacks of a military lifestyle, and it's only fair that the local communities not have their resources starined to accomplish it.
This is another example of how the President and his ilk see our men and women in uniform: cannon-fodder and tools. He has cut military retirement benefits, sent mounds of money to contractors for projects that don't work, and not delievered on the pay increases he promised, and now he's going after the education of the military's kids.
Mr. President, it's time to do the right thing, and raise the amount of funding availably for all of these programs, not cynically cut it, while you send the parents off to your war for oil and revenge.
The big uproar over the Iraqi missiles, appears to be yet another case of the Bush Administration, of whom Colin Powell seems to be a willing dupe, obfuscating the truth.
Here's the deal. Under the cease fire and UN resolutions, Iraq's missile armaments are supposed to be limited to a range of 90 miles. The UN inspectors noticed that the missiles flew between 105 and 113 miles in testing, a technical violation that the Bush Administration jumped on. The problem is this -- the guidance package hasn't been added for the flight tests, which means that the 100+ mile range estimate isn't entirely factual.
Not having the guidance package, also makes me wonder if they've added even simulated warheads, which could reduce range further, if they haven't tried that out.
So the President and his minions have jumped on another piece of "evidence" about Iraq and distotrted it for their own use. In the words of the inspectors, "garbage after garbage after garbage:. See CBS for the whole story.
A lot of people are wondering why there isn't more support for the President's proposed adventure in Iraq, so I thought, I'd add a few links as way of explanation. We have Paul Krugman, ABC News, and The Independent. Mainly, it's a question of trust, which the Bush has done nothing to gain.
Last week it was leaked that the DOJ was working on the "Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003" or Patriot Act II, by a brave soul at DOJ, who thought it wise to give the folks at the Center of Public Integrity at heads up. If anything, Patriot II is even more egregious than the orginal Patriot ACT.
Here's a couple of the highlights courtesy of Wired.
* Conduct domestic wiretapping without court order for 15 days following a congressional authorization of use of force or an attack on the United States.
* Secretly detain citizens.
* Deport any alien, including green-card holders, who are convicted of drug possession or an aggravated felony.
* Access a citizen's credit reports without a subpoena.
* Abolish federal court "consent decrees" that limit police surveillance of non-criminal organizations and public events.
* Criminalize the use of encryption software in the commission or planning of a felony.
* Apply strict gag rules to those subpoenaed by a grand jury.
* Collect DNA from suspected terrorists and indeed from any individual whose DNA might assist terror investigations.
* Extend authorization periods for secret wiretaps and Internet surveillance.
* Ease restrictions on the use of secret evidence.
Wired left the fun part about stripping people of their citizenship if the government decides they have demonstrated that they wish to by supporting groups that denounce Government policy. In effect, under Patriot II, all of the people who took part in the anti-war protests over the weekend could lose their citizenship, if this goes into effect.
I guess we don't need that 1st Amendment after all...
This srticle provides some background on NASA's chief, and some needed analysis of both the Challenger and Columbia disasters. Maybe someone in a powerful position will take notice and make some responsible desicions.
Considering that military service for Catholics is based on the "Just War" theory first promulgated by St. Augustine, it appears that some American troops my be experiencing a religious crisis, after the Pope's most recent pronouncement.
The pontiff may be a bit behind on some issues, but based on what I've seen, he's got a good point.
Comcast cable pulled an anti-war commercial from the Washington, D.C. area before it was ever aired because they claimed it had "false" statements. I guess that doesn't apply to regular advertisers, conservative politicians, or people like Rush Limbaugh, Jerry Falwel, or Pat Robertson. Not to mention coverage of the President or Vice President...
No double-standards there.
Looks like the now infamous Iraq dossier Colin Powell praised before the UN was actually created by a bevy of junior Communications Aides, and basically just cut and pasted from other sources.
At the same time an actual intelligence report that was leaked in the UK, seems to say that there are no Iraq-al Qaeda links.
So what's the deal? Is this evidence of massive deception of the parts of Tony Blair and George W. Bush?
Looks like even the intelligence service are too lazy to do their own work. Worse, it ended up in Colin Powell's address to the UN.
I've been meaning to add this for a couple of days, but things have been a bit busy around here.
Evidently te Bush Administration is willing to pay cash for support against Iraq that it can't get through diplomacy or by presenting legitimate evidence that the UN should take action.
The Institute for Policy Studies has an interesting analysis of the items found in Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation at the United Nations. And another from Alternet.
I personally didn't see much more than the same accusations and some pretty flimsy evidence. These days, I don't know that I accept a James Bond style cryptic phone conversation that the gentlemen over at NSA "intercepted". Ditto with emails. As anyone who uses the internet should be aware, it is horrendously easy to fake an email message -- you have to have the actual electronic version of it to determine whether the thing in genuine, and we all know how easy it is to fake audio and video.
Combined with daily accusations from the CIA FBI and British Intellignce professionals that the Bush administration is "cooking" intel information, what value is this weak stuff?
My point is this: don't show us some photos of building and vehicles, don't play cryptic audio tapes, don't make bizarre claims that because the inspectors haven't found anything, then it must be hidden. The solution to this problem, is find some damning evidence, and then show it to the world. Use modern forensic techniques to ensure everyone that nothing found has been tampered with. Even then, show me, without doubt that Iraq poses a "clear and present danger" to the United States.
Any things less isn't worth the cost, in lives or treasure.
These pictures, taken by a photo-journailst in who eschewed the pool system during Operation Desert Storm, are a vivid depiction of why we must be sure of what we are during when we head down the path to a second war against Iraq. These photos could just as easily have been of American or Allied soldiers.
Nothing remotely like this has been shown on news programmnig in the U.S. since at least Vietnam. I think we need to be reminded what war really looks like. If we still find reason to go to war after careful deliberation regarding Iraq and the motive of those who are pushing for war, and we are willing to accept the cost, then so be it.
Warning: The pictures at the link above are very graphic.
With luck the planned probes will result in real changes this time, not a whitewash like we had after Challenger. Based on what I've seen, most of NASA's administrators should be canned, and anyone who deliberately ignored safety warnings should be prosecuted. If that leads to officials outside of NASA, so be it.
This weekend saw the third tragedy for the American space program, and the second for the Shuttle. This time, the Grand Old Lady of the fleet, SS Columbia was destroyed over Texas with her crew of seven astronauts. So far, the exact cause is unknown, but it appears that damage to the heat shielding tiles on Colmbia's left wing were damaged during lift off by falling debris.
While this event is painful to all Americans, it has particularly affected my wife and myself. We were High School Freshmen at different schools in Florida the day Challenger was lost. While millions watched on television, we saw the explosion live from our schools on the the other side of Florida.
What makes this painful for us, is that neither disaster had to happen, particularly for Columbia and her crew. Based on recent news reports, safety issues at NASA have been steadfastly ignored by administrators and by the Bush and Clinton Administrations. Some, like science fiction authors Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven, claim that NASA has ignored less expensive, more reliable craft in favor of the money wasting shuttle. Others say the program should be trashed and rebuilt. I hold with this view.
Others claim that manned spaceflight is dangerous, expensive, and worthless. I refer them to this commentary and these songs here, here & here.
Space exploration will continue to be a dangerous, expensive proposition, but it is still worthwhile. Aside from providing a better understanding of the universe, many technologies, visible and invisible can be attributed to aerospace research. We need to continue to press forward with our endeavors, but to do so in a methodical approach that makes sense, in expenseand safety.
If we give up now, all of the cost, ine lives and money, will be for naught.